Any Dark Deed
by StarryKirby
Summary: Somebody secretly hates Sonic so much that they'll do anything to hurt him. Sonic is left confused on why Wario raped him; little does he know that the reason is much darker and sinister than he could ever guess. Rated M for rape and language. Complete!
1. Introduction

_**Nothing new truly, I'm afraid! I'm just going back and fixing up some spacing, and adding some more details to make things sound better. As well, if you've finished this story, feel free to check out the sequel, "Return the Darkness". You don't have to read this story to get the plot of the other one, because I've added a paragraph there that sums up this story. Anyways, enjoy! **_

Regular typing: Talking or description

_Italic: Thoughts/dreams_

**Bolded: flashbacks **

_**Bolded and Italic: Author notes, except during flashbacks. In that case, the character is thinking**_

Sonic rolled behind Ganondorf and kicked the back of his knees. Down Ganondorf went, giving Sonic enough time to get the Final Smash.

"I'll show you!" Sonic shouted, flying at Ganondorf. He tried to dodge in vain, but was no match for the now extra speedy gold hedgehog. Ganondorf went flying, and the match was over.

"Good job Sonic!" Mario slapped him a high five when Sonic came out of the arena.

"Thanks," Sonic replied. When Sonic first entered Super Smash Brothers Brawl, most people were a little ticked at the thought. After all, he was only not a Nintendo character – he was known as Mario's main franchise rival! It wasn't uncommon for characters from different companies to become friends, but it was rare for them to be put in a game together. Companies wanted to keep their franchises going, so while the CEO's argued about new games and advertising, the stars simply lived they wanted to, until the crisis of the week showed up.

So when Sonic and Snake were invited to join in the real Smash Brothers tournament, both were happy to accept. For most fighters, they were either excited to fight some new foes, or simply just didn't care. A few characters still believed that Sonic and Snake shouldn't be there, fighting along with the rest. They used to be downright cruel to both, cheating in brawls and criticizing whatever they did, but because Sonic was able to make friends quickly and Snake was so intimidating, those who hated the two were soon shushed into silence and forced to bear the fact that they were here to stay.

Every character accepted Snake, but one still held an unknown grudge against the blue hedgehog…

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey, did you guys notice that Wario has been getting stronger lately?" After the daily fights were over, everyone was sitting in the dining room eating dinner. Sonic, Link, Kirby, Pit and Peach were all sharing a table.

"I thought it was just me at first, but if Peach also noticed it…you know, when I was fighting him today, he always seemed to get to the Assist Trophies first. Not only that, he was able to get me back into regular form from my rock! What's up with that guy?" Kirby took another slice of pizza.

"Eh, maybe he's doing some extra training, since he's one of the slowest characters. You still were able to defeat him, Kirb, so that guy sure needs to train." Link took another sip of soda while everyone else laughed, for Kirby was one of the best fighters and won quite easily.

"Yeah, you'd better watch your back, Sonic. Someday he'll be able to catch up to you!" Pit teased.

"Don't worry about it. Marth and I are taking him and Olimar on in a match tomorrow. They're going down!" Sonic finished up the last of his meal, "I'm going for a run. See ya guys later."

"Bye Sonic." Sonic ran at top speed out of the room.

The four remaining fighters turned back to their dinner. However, Wario had been listening in to their conversation.

"So, that bloody third party hedgehog thinks he can beat me? That won't happen, for by the end of the week, he'll be wishing he never came to Super Smash Bros. I'm the one that should be thought of as Mario's main rival, not him! Oh, I'm going to make Sonic leave, whatever it takes!"


	2. First Night

It was around midnight now. Sonic had returned from his long run and now was relaxing on his bed. His match wasn't until the afternoon, so he had plenty of time to sleep in. Sonic was lying on his stomach with a laptop in front of him, answering a few emails. He had kicked his blankets to the floor because he was still hot from his run.

"So Eggman actually misses having me around? Next time I take a break, I'll give him hell." Tails had written that Eggman was only sitting around in his base, grumbling about when Sonic would return so he could unleash his newest plot on him.

"Ah, that guy never learns…" The sound of footsteps coming down the hall alerted Sonic. He switched off the laptop, putting it on the side table, and sat up to see who his guest was.

To Sonic's surprise, Wario entered the room. He seemed to have this strange aura about him, like he was going to do something sinister, but hiding that fact…

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking before entering someone's room? Jeez, I thought Smashers liked privacy around here!" Everyone had their own bedroom, and the fighter fixed it up to their own desire. Sonic's room was done in different shades of blue, including his favorite "Sonic Blue."

"Oh yeah…" Wario turned back and knocked on the door three times, which made the door shut. However, Sonic didn't know that Wario had locked the door while doing so.

"Well, that's _much_ better. What do you want, anyways?" Sonic made sure that Wario heard the sarcasm in his voice.

"I'm here to show you something."

"I'm guessing that this has to do with our upcoming fight tomorrow; am I right or am I right?"

"You're right, hedgehog. Haven't you been wondering how come I've been doing so well in matches lately?"

Sonic shrugged, "A little. Why does it matter?"

Wario grinned, "You see, I'm here to show you how I'm doing it."

Sonic gave Wario his own trademark smile, "You're going to show me how to use steroids?"

Wario's eyes narrowed, and he thought_, "You wish, Sonic, you wish." _However, instead of saying the words, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a strange device. It looked like a metal cuff, meant to go around your ankle, except it was covered in lights and screens. The entire thing looked extremely busy and complicated. It seemed to be gathering data constantly. Wario pressed a button on the side, and the room took an odd, reddish hue.

Sonic asked, "What's that?"

Wario smirked, "It's a long story of what it exactly is, but I'll tell you what it does. You see, all of the fighters here have some sort of ability, whether it is to fly, shoot fireballs, whatever. This device is designed to take those abilities away, and also leave the fighter's actual fighting skill – you know, physical strength – that of a six year old. It leaves them helpless."

"You're showing me how you're going to cheat? That's a brilliant plan, Wario; completely foolproof."

Wario laughed, "You're naïve, Sonic, completely naïve. This device is meant to go around the ankle of the fighter, but obviously I can't do that during a match, so it only works for a short period of time. However, if I actually am able to put this on someone…it stays until I make it come off."

Sonic's eyes narrowed, "Wait a second…" There was a bright flash, and before Sonic could react, the cuff was now around his left ankle. It had shrunk to the perfect size so it fit. Sonic couldn't budge it.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Sonic hopped off the front of the bed, meaning to run out of the room, and he realized Wario wasn't joking. His super speed was gone.

Wario let out a cackle, "Yell all you want, Sonic, but no one can come to your aid. I activated the sound shield, making the entire room soundproof. You're going nowhere."

"What do you want?" Sonic growled.

Wario glared back, "You're a stupid third party character. A different company creates your games, so there's no reason for you to be in this one. You don't belong here."

"Too bad for you, pal, for nothing's going to make me leave."

"Are you sure nothing will?" Wario suddenly pushed Sonic back onto the bed. He snatched a rope from his waist and bound Sonic's wrists together. There was a hole shaped like a Chaos Emerald in the headboard. Wario strung the rope through it and tied the ends together.

Sonic now had his head on the pillows, facing directly towards the door at the end of his bed. It almost seemed to be mocking him because he couldn't get to it. Sonic struggled against his bonds, but they wouldn't loosen. His foot lashed out and hit Wario in the chest, but the anklet had reduced his fighting skills so they were now basically nothing. Wario didn't even flinch.

"Doctor what's-his-name tried everything on you…he hurt you physically and he hurt you mentally, but obviously his efforts failed. Now, I'm going into a whole new territory…I'm going to take you down sexually."

Sonic stopped his struggling, and his eyes went wide, "Did you…did you just say…"

"That I was going to fuck you for all you're worth? Yeah, I did. Good thing too, for the only thing you're good for is for fucking."

"What the hell's wrong with you? You're so desperate to get me to leave you're going to rape me?"

Wario straddled Sonic, and began to undo his belt, "Oh, maybe I don't want you to leave, for then I couldn't fuck you anymore." Wario's lower half was now bare, and he was already getting an erection, "Here's the deal, Sonic. If you do whatever I say and are a good little hedgie, I won't make that cuff permanent. But if you do…say goodbye to your abilities forever."

Sonic said, nearly in a whisper, "You have to be joking."

"I wasn't joking about anything else before," Wario's erection was throbbing, wanting to get in, "Are you willing to take that chance now?"

Sonic's mind was racing. He could either attack Wario and save his virginity, or let himself be raped and save his powers. Attacking seemed the best option, for he probably could get the cuff removed later, but what if it didn't work that way and he lost his super speed for good? He would never be able to handle it…

"I'll…I'll do whatever you say." Sonic couldn't believe he just said that.

Wario grinned, "Good boy. Now, open your mouth."

Sonic slowly opened his mouth, for he knew what was coming. Wario thrust in. Sonic gagged at it; he tasted terrible! He automatically thought of biting down with all of his strength, but just couldn't risk it. Sonic simply tried to move his tongue out of the way and breathe through his nose while Wario kept pushing in.

This went on for a few minutes, but then Wario suddenly stopped thrusting with his erection three quarters of the way in Sonic's mouth. "Suck hedgehog, if you know what's good for you."

Sonic shuddered, and then slowly began sucking on Wario, cursing himself for doing it every second. Wario moaned in pleasure, and then began to thrust again. Sonic kept on sucking, gagging every time Wario went in hard. The blue hedgehog looked to the side so he wouldn't have to see what was going on, and watched the numbers change on his clock. After six minutes, Wario's orgasm hit. Sonic coughed at the semen now his mouth. He wanted to spit the foul stuff out, but Wario remained in his mouth. When Wario realized what Sonic was trying to do, he quickly pulled out and slapped Sonic's left cheek; the power from the blow made Sonic's head spin. "Swallow it, you whore."

Sonic swallowed as quickly as he could, but couldn't get that sick taste out of his mouth. He coughed and licked his teeth, trying to make the flavor disappear. Wario laughed at his futile efforts, "You should lick your lips too, for I bet you liked that." Sonic could tell that was a command, and he slowly licked his lips with what little saliva he had left.

Wario's hand traced the way down Sonic's stomach and in between his legs. He found Sonic's entrance and began circling it with one dirty finger, "My, my, what do we have here…"

Sonic groaned, "Wasn't oral enough?"

Wario snorted, "You think that's going to be enough? I'm going the entire way with you." Wario spread Sonic's legs apart, and pushed his once again throbbing erection between them, right at the entrance, "Anything else you want to say before I fuck you?"

Sonic smiled at Wario despite his situation, "Yeah…you're supposed to hate the game, not the player…"

Wario hissed back at Sonic, "Maybe so, but the only reason I would hate the game is because of one speedy player." With that, Wario slammed into Sonic.

Sonic just couldn't help himself; he screamed. He never thought that this would be so painful. Wario wasn't even giving him time to adjust; he went in all the way, came nearly out, and then slammed back in again.

"That's right, you filthy hedgehog slut, it hurts, doesn't it? The more painful it is for you, the better it is for me!" Wario thrust in once again, "I'm going to fuck you until you cry."

_"__Ok, that's it. I'm keeping the little bit of dignity I have left. I will not, simply will not cry." _Sonic grit his teeth together and tried to ignore the pain. He was only sixteen and not fully grown. His body wasn't strong enough to take this level of penetration, and it wasn't long before his body began to show signs of that.

Wario felt a warm liquid on his thighs, and he looked away from Sonic's pained face to see blood coming out of him, "Ha! I'm fucking you so hard you're bleeding. Your ass is so tight that there's hardly any room. Let's see how much more you can take…"

"_Not much more, it just hurts so much…when is he going to stop?"_ In his mind, Sonic was pleading that Wario would finish soon, for he wasn't going to be able to keep consciousness much longer.

Sonic's mattress squeaked with the action going on, and the headboard thumped loudly against the wall with every thrust. Wario's thumbs dug into Sonic's hips, and he yanked the blue hedgehog forward while he thrust in. Sonic promised himself that he wasn't going to give Wario the satisfaction of seeing him cry, but he couldn't prevent himself from letting out a shriek when Wario went in particularly deep. Naturally Sonic's body began stiffening up in an attempt to lessen the pain, but Wario only thrust harder into Sonic's defenseless backside.

The blue hedgehog could feel his tight muscles tearing with the powerful stabs, and the liquid warmth flowing between his legs made Sonic feel sick. The room began to smell like blood, sweat and sex. Wario couldn't have been lying about the cuff - with all the noise the two were making, anybody nearby would have easily heard them. Sonic looked at his clock, and his ears flattened slightly when he saw that only eight minutes had passed. How long could this possibly go on for?

After what seemed like years, Wario finally came. Moaning in relief, Sonic finally let himself collapse, panting heavily with his eyes shut. _"The good thing about bleeding is at least I can't feel Wario's semen down there,"_ Sonic thought to himself, flexing his muscles and feeling Wario still inside.

Once Wario caught his breath he pulled out, and then pinched Sonic's rear hard, "You hear me, Sonic? If you tell anyone what happened, your powers disappear anyways." He pinched Sonic on his other butt cheek, "You got that?"

"Yes…yes, I do, I won't tell…"

"Good." Wario untied Sonic's hands and snapped the anklet off of him. Not that doing so would put Wario in any danger; Sonic was in too much pain and shock to do anything now.

As soon as Wario left, Sonic finally found it in himself to move. He opened his eyes and rolled over slowly, his body barely functioning. He pulled the blankets off of the floor and wrapped himself in them, "I'll be ok, I'm fine…it'll be better in the morning." After being drained of all of his energy, Sonic fell asleep.


	3. Aftermath

Sonic woke up to the sun on his face. He had overslept, trying to make up for the energy he had lost the night before. His entire body ached, but especially between his legs. Sonic threw back the covers and looked down. His sheets and the inside of his legs were now a mess of blood and semen. He didn't know how he was able to get himself to stand and hobble over to his bathroom. Sonic got into the shower and turned the water on full blast. Picking up a bar of soap, he scrubbed his entire body. He could get rid of the evidence, but he couldn't get rid of that terrible _used_ feeling.

After drying himself off and making sure not a single trace of fluid remained in his bathroom, Sonic turned to his bed. The sheets were a remembrance of what had occurred the night before, and he couldn't bear to look at them. He stripped his bed as fast he could and replaced them. Luckily it was the main laundry day, so nobody would notice if they went to check out the laundry. All of the laundry was done by machine, but you had to go collect clean things yourself.

When he was done, Sonic slumped against his bedroom door. How could he fight in the battle this afternoon now? He could barely walk across the room without his body screaming in agony, let alone run and dodge in a fight. Sonic sighed. He was just going to have to take it this afternoon, and not sign up for a Brawl for the next few days until his body healed. He glanced at the clock; 9:36. At least breakfast was still being served.

Sonic went downstairs and entered the dining room. Most of the tables were empty now, for the Brawlers were done breakfast and had wandered off. A few characters were still left, though. Lucario and Marth were sharing a table, and when they saw Sonic, they waved him over.

"It's not like you to be late for breakfast. Usually you're one of the earliest ones here!" Lucario immediately said as Sonic sat down.

"I just overslept today, that's all."

"You're not nervous about our upcoming match, are you?" Marth asked.

"I was only up later than usual. Pass the syrup, will you?" Breakfast was purple pancakes this morning. Crazy Hand's doing, of course.

"Sure, here you are."

Neither Sonic nor Marth saw that the lid wasn't screwed on tight. When Sonic tried to pour the syrup on his pancakes, a huge glob of syrup came out.

"Oh, sorry Sonic, I didn't see the lid."

"It's still good." Sonic took a bite of the pancake anyways and froze.

Lucario and Marth looked at each other, and then at the hedgehog. "Are you alright?" Lucario asked.

But Sonic couldn't speak. He couldn't help but think he had eaten something before that had the same texture as this. What was it again? It was about to come to him, and even though Sonic tried, he couldn't stop the thought from creeping into his mind, _"It has the same texture as semen."_

The cliché, "It felt like an ice cold bucket of water had been dumped on his head" never rang more true as the events of the night before finally hit Sonic. He had been raped by Wario. It seriously happened.

Sonic began coughing, trying to get the food out of his mouth. Lucario started patting him on the back, thinking that something may have gone down the wrong side. Sonic heard a voice in his head say, _"Swallow it, you whore." _So he did.

Sonic began to pant hard after he managed to get the piece of pancake down. He was starting to feel really dizzy. The world began to blur as the only thing on his mind was, "Wario-raped-me-Wario-raped-me-Wario-raped-me."

"Sonic, are you ok?" Who was that; Lucario or Marth?

"I'm…I'm going to be sick. I'm really going to be sick." Sonic got off of his chair and ran towards the nearest main floor bathroom.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic's throat felt raw after his stomach was empty. After he ran into the bathroom with the shouts of Marth and Lucario behind him, Sonic threw up everything he had eaten. He felt disgusting thinking about what the last thing he had eaten before breakfast was.

"Oh man… Sonic must have the flu or something." Luigi looked at Sonic with concern. Most of the male Brawlers were now inside the bathroom, having come after hearing the shouts or from others running out to tell them the news.

Fox put a hand on Sonic's forehead, "Well, he doesn't have a fever. Maybe he just picked up a stomach bug somewhere."

"I highly doubt Master Hand will let Sonic compete today if he's ill," Pikachu sighed.

"You're right…I guess that means Olimar and Wario will win by default, unless they agree to postpone the match, but _I_ highly doubt they will…" Captain Falcon shook his head.

Olimar pushed his way to the front of the crowd, "Don't worry, Sonic. As long as both you and Marth agree to reschedule with me, Wario will be forced to go along with it."

Marth nodded, "That sounds good. What about you, Sonic?"

"Yeah, I'm good with that." Sonic sighed and accepted a glass of water from Luigi. The foul taste vomit disappeared as the cool water cleansed his throat. Too bad it couldn't clean between his legs as well…

Olimar replied, "I'll check out the list and see when I can squeeze our match in." He made his way back through the crowd.

"Do you think somebody should stay with Sonic, in case he becomes ill again?" Diddy Kong asked.

"That's probably a good idea. Let's go with somebody who doesn't have a match today...any volunteers?" Ike looked around.

"I think I'm the only one who doesn't. I'll stay with him." Wolf made his way to the front, "Think you'll be able to eat anything now?"

"Please…don't mention food…" Sonic groaned.

"Alright, I hear ya. Let's go back upstairs."


	4. Fighting Back

Sonic lay perfectly still underneath his blankets, pretending to sleep. He was actually watching Wolf from underneath his lashes, even though Wolf was only sitting there reading. Once in awhile he glanced towards Sonic and seeing that he was still 'sleeping' kept reading.

Too much stuff was going through Sonic's mind in order for him to sleep. How could he have let Wario take him like that? And why the hell couldn't he tell anyone what happened? Sonic had wanted to mention it to Wolf for a while, but the words always seemed to get caught in his throat. He kept thinking about what the others would think of him if they found out he had been raped. It would make him seem so weak.

"_I could always leave a note under Master Hand's door and then disappear for a few hours, but what if Wario somehow finds out? Well, he isn't coming back to hurt me again later anyways, so I guess it doesn't really matter if I don't say anything. If I don't say a word, then no one will ever know and I won't lose my powers. Besides, who would actually believe me if I told them I was raped by Wario? Guys aren't raped that often…no, it's better if I just keep quiet." _

The clock eventually hit noon. Wolf stood up and rubbed Sonic's shoulder, "Sonic, are you awake?"

"_Better to pretend I was sleeping."_ "Ugh…what do you want?" Sonic moaned.

"It's lunch now. Are you hungry?"

"Not really, I still feel ill."

Wolf sighed, "Well…I guess I can always eat later." No sooner did he finish his sentence than there was a knock at the door. Wolf opened it to see Meta Knight standing there.

"I brought you some food, Wolf, in case you decide to stay instead. Listen, I'm done my fights for today and have nothing planned. I can watch Sonic for the rest of the day."

"Alright, thanks Meta. I think I'll go watch Fox in his next match…that will be an interesting one." Wolf exited the room with his plate, and Meta Knight took a seat beside Sonic.

Sonic closed his eyes, but after a few minutes he felt like he was being watched. He opened his eyes and saw that Meta Knight was still staring at him.

"What do you want?" Sonic asked.

"Something is up, Sonic. You're always eager to get into Brawls, but today you didn't even resist. Remember about two months back, when nearly everyone caught the flu? You were one of the first ones sick, and complained about how you were not being allowed to fight while coughing. Remember that, hmm?"

Sonic smiled at the memory, "Yeah, I do."

"So why don't you want to fight today?"

"I just don't feel like it."

"Oh really…"

"Yeah really…"

Meta Knight shook his head, "Fine, be that way. But I still don't believe you." He drummed his fingers on one of the side tables, "Did something happen last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"After you came back from running or while you were running…did something happen to you? Is that why you don't want to fight?"

"No, everything's fine!"

"Are you sure?"

"YES!" Meta Knight stared at Sonic in shock. That had come out with more force than he wanted…

"I'm sorry, Meta Knight…" Sonic whispered.

"Hey, it's ok. I was pushing you…feel like playing 'I Spy' then?" Meta Knight went to Sonic's bookshelf and pulled out the 'I Spy: Treasure Hunt' edition, "This will keep both of us entertained."

For the next few hours, both Smashers worked together on trying to spot every hidden item. On some pages they finished quickly, on others they were stumped. It helped to pass the time and keep Sonic's mind off what Wario did to him.

The dinner bell rang. "Feel like eating something?" Meta Knight asked.

Sonic had finally been distracted, and now he was ravenous, "You know, a little food sounds great right now…"

XXXXXXXXX

Everyone was happy when Sonic had come down to dinner and ate. Later many of the Smashers had crowded into the main entertainment room and watched those late-night, crummy, old horror movies that were so bad they were funny. More often the Brawlers spent time laughing at the movies, chatting and eating popcorn instead of being scared.

It was now past two in the morning, and everyone had finally decided to head to sleep, _"It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow, with everyone so tired." _Sonic thought to himself as he crawled underneath his covers. After being awake for so long, it felt nice to finally get some sleep. Sonic was pretty sure Wario wouldn't come and bother him again, but just in case, he had locked his door.

It seemed like only a few seconds had passed before Sonic woke up. He thought he had heard his door slam shut, although he knew for a fact he had locked it. Glancing at his clock, he could see the time was 3:28 AM. Could that have been enough time for Wario…?

"_No, it couldn't have been him. Don't be such a wimp, Sonic. If you're this scared, just check the door to see if it's locked." _Sonic got out of bed and checked the door. It was locked, just as he had left it.

"I'm going crazy, hearing things in the middle of the night…" Sonic muttered.

"But you're not hearing things." Sonic gasped and turned around. Wario _did_ get into his room. Another bright flash and the anklet went back around Sonic's ankle, and the room had the red tint again.

"I saw that what happened last night had not really affected you…well, let's see if you can handle this!" Wario started towards Sonic.

Sonic began fumbling with the lock, but it wouldn't open. He cursed and pulled harder.

"You might as well give up now. I've been planning this for some time, and have gone through every detail, including on how to pick locks and make them get stuck." Wario smiled.

"I didn't tell anyone! You said you'd leave me alone if I didn't tell anyone!" Sonic was holding himself up by leaning against the door, for despite his best efforts he was starting to slightly shake with fear.

"Correction, Sonic…I said that I wouldn't make the anklet permanent if you did what I asked. However, I did not say that I wouldn't have fun with you again."

"I'm no longer a virgin thanks to you! What more do you want?"

"You're still fresh meat; young and tight. Just because you've had sex once doesn't mean you aren't worth fucking some more …you'll obey me again, now won't you?" Wario reached behind Sonic and grabbed his rear.

Sonic moved to his right, out of Wario's reach, "No. You're not getting me easily this time, you freaky sex pervert. Get the hell away from me. I'm fighting back."

Wario snarled, "You won't be able to handle this for long." He advanced towards Sonic, and Sonic backed away. His eyes searched the room for a weapon. It made him wish he had some skill in swordsmanship or something…although even if he did have a sword or some other weapon, he probably would be utterly useless with it now.

He quickly ran out of room to move. Sonic had backed into his desk and heard the glass that had contained juice a few days ago wobble. Picking it up, he threw it at Wario, who was so shocked by Sonic's reaction that it hit him dead on, breaking into pieces on impact. Wario swore and charged him.

Sonic climbed onto his desk and moved to the other side. Wario followed, and placed his hand on the edge of the desk in order to climb up. Sonic stamped on his fingers, and Wario howled with anger and pulled away. He slammed the desk, and Sonic jumped over Wario so he wouldn't fall over.

Sonic ran to his supply closet on the other side of the room. He opened it and began searching the shelves, _"Hurry, hurry, he'll come after me soon…where is it?"_

"You'll pay for that, hedgehog!" Wario was only a few steps away from Sonic, but he froze when he saw the item in Sonic's hand – a pair of sharp scissors. Every character had one, meant for emergences, and Sonic thought that preventing himself from being raped was an emergency.

"Come near me and I'll stab you," Sonic growled. Sonic knew that there was no possible way he could ever bring himself to kill Wario, and Wario probably knew that. But a couple of hits on Wario's arms or legs wouldn't do too much harm.

"You seriously think that a measly pair of scissors will stop me? Think again!"

Without his super speed, Wario was faster than Sonic and was able to pin him against the wall. Sonic struggled, still clutching the scissors, and Wario began to grope Sonic between his legs, "If I want to fuck you, I'll fuck you!"

"I…don't…think so!" Sonic brought his knee up hard, hitting Wario in the groin. Wario moaned and collapsed. Sonic stepped over him and tried to make his way to the window, the alternative form for an exit, but Wario grabbed his ankle and brought him down.

Sonic flipped over, opened the scissors and slashed them across Wario's wrist. Blood began to bubble from the fresh wound, but Wario only clutched Sonic's ankle harder. Sonic brought them across again and again, and finally Wario let go.

The blue hedgehog made his way to the bay window in the corner of his room. He pulled up the blinds and opened one side. All of the fighter's bedrooms were on the third story of the Base. Nearly everybody simply jumped out the window if they wanted to get outside quickly and not bother using the stairs, and Sonic was no exception. However, that was when he had his powers, and could take on the fall. Now he wasn't totally sure if he could do it, but he had to try.

Sonic slowly began to slip out of the window. He lowered himself out and found a foothold on a small crack in the wall. He was almost through entirely and was going to let himself fall, but then something came down hard on his head. Sonic saw stars and let go, but somebody grabbed one of his quills and pulled him back into the room.

That someone, of course, was Wario.

He slammed the window shut and turned around. Without his abilities, Sonic was still dizzy, so Wario took the time to hit Sonic on the side of his head, "I though about going easy on you, but you've made me change my mind. Now you'll know pain…"

Wario grabbed one of Sonic's quills while bringing his foot around, making Sonic trip. He lifted Sonic's head up and slammed it onto the ground, again and again.

Sonic's vision began to blur. His mind wasn't working anymore. He knew that he had to fight back, but his body just wouldn't obey. He couldn't stop Wario from dragging him by his quills to his bed. He couldn't stop Wario from lifting him onto the bed and straddling him. He couldn't stop Wario from tying his wrists once again to the headboard. He was reliving a nightmare and couldn't do anything about it.

Without warning, Wario pushed all the way into Sonic. Sonic was so terrified he couldn't even make a sound when he felt himself being ripped in two_, "No, no…this can't be happening. It just can't."_

The pain overtook everything else, and Sonic began to fade far, far away…


	5. Acceptance

"_Why do I hurt so much...everything hurts. I thought that yesterday was bad. Well, I was dead wrong. Ouch, my head…" _

The first thing Sonic felt was the pain. His head hurt from being slammed into the ground and his quills being pulled; his arms and legs hurt because of Wario pinching them as to not cause bruises when Wario was through with mere pleasure; and his entrance hurt from Wario pushing in so hard. Wario wasn't just looking for pleasure or dominance this time; he was looking to hurt Sonic, and that just made it worse. Above all though, the thing that hurt most was his heart. Twice Wario raped him – twice! And he did it in two consecutive nights. How could Sonic have let that happen…?

Sonic's eyes fluttered open, and he slowly made a mental check of his body. Everything was stiff and sore, but at least he had some movement. That was when he felt the second thing – something cold and metal around his left ankle.

Wario never removed the cuff. It was still around Sonic's ankle, and with it on, all of his superpowers were gone.

Sonic sat up in shock, ignoring the pain, and threw off the blankets to check his leg. The cuff glinted back at him in the morning sun, bright silver against his once blue sheets.

_"__Damn...did I bleed again from this? Guess I might as well change them…" _

It was a lot harder than yesterday for Sonic to move around. He pushed the soiled sheets into a pile and left them there while he took another shower.

The water on the tile took a pink tinge as it ran down his aching body and into the drain. No matter how much soap he used, he still felt dirty for being raped _twice_. He scrubbed himself again and again, and while washing for the fourth time it came to him.

Maybe Wario was the only one who could take the anklet off, but that didn't mean someone else couldn't _force_ Wario into taking it off. If Sonic did go and tell Master Hand what Wario had done, he could make Wario remove the anklet, and Sonic would be free! Problem solved!

Sonic immediately turned off the water and got out of the shower. He quickly dried off and changed his bedding once again. At least this would be the last time he would change them for such a horrible reason.

The smell of bacon frying assaulted Sonic as he walked past the dining room, _"Breakfast can wait. First getting that son of a bitch arrested, and then I'll eat."_

"Hey Sonic, come over here!" Ike was waving to him at the table closest to the door, along with Zelda and Ness.

"_Well…I am kind of hungry. Everyone probably will know soon enough anyways." _Sonic went inside and took a seat at the same table.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. Want some bacon?" Ness held out a platter.

"In a minute; I'm really thirsty." Sonic put both of his feet up on the table, making sure his left leg was on top, and took a glass of juice.

"Hey, show some table manners!" Zelda said jokingly.

"At least it's over my plate and not yours!" Sonic replied_. "Odd…you'd think that a metal cuff around someone's ankle would arouse suspicion!" _

"Did you ever figure out what made you sick?" Ike asked.

"No…but the weird thing is now my ankle feels funny."

"Huh…which one is bothering you?"

"The left one is." _"If they won't mention it, I'll just be obvious and point it out."_

Zelda was sitting on Sonic's left, so she pulled his leg down from the table and looked at it, "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"_This really isn't funny anymore…"_ "But it feels so strange!"

"Maybe you twisted it or something…" Zelda moved down his leg, and to Sonic's surprise, her hand _went right through the cuff like it wasn't even there._

"No, it feels just fine…" Zelda looked back up at Sonic, "Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Sonic just couldn't speak, for he now knew the reason why Wario wasn't afraid of someone discovering his secret – the cuff was invisible to everyone except Sonic and himself.

XXXXXXXXX

Wario was lifting weights alone in the weight room when he saw a familiar blue hedgehog come in, with a familiar cuff around his ankle.

"_Well, I did give the sucker a fair warning…"_

Sonic walked up to Wario, the expression on his face a mixture of pain, fear, and anger, "You bastard. You fucking bastard."

Wario laughed, "Doesn't that little device have tons of surprises?"

"I can't believe you'd actually go through with this."

"You disobeyed me, Sonic. I told you what would happen if you didn't listen to me, and yet you went through with it. Accept the consequences."

Wario turned back to his weights, and Sonic's voice dropped to a whisper, "Is it really permanent? Will it never truly come off?"

Wario looked up at Sonic, "It can never be made one hundred percent permanent, but I'm still the only one who can take it off. However, you're not exactly in my highest point of favor right now, so scram."

"What can I do to get back into your favor?" Sonic's eyes became fearful.

"_That's exactly what I was hoping to hear…"_ "What do you think, Sonic?"

Wario could tell from Sonic's expression that the hedgehog had already guessed correctly, "Sex?"

"That's right – if you let me come back into your room tonight and fuck you, I'll take that anklet off and you'll be free once again. And if you keep letting me come back, it will stay off."

"But…it hurts so much…" Sonic trailed off.

"As soon as you accept your fate, I'll take it a little easier on you. Struggle and it will only become more painful. Got it?"

"I…I understand…"

"Good. Tonight at one I'll come by. Once I'm done fucking you I'll remove the anklet, and not a moment sooner. Tell anyone and it won't come off at all."

"I'll be there…and I won't tell."

Sonic turned to leave, and Wario slapped him hard on his ass with his empty hand, "I'm looking forward to it." He laughed as Sonic ran out of the room, trying to put as much distance between Wario and himself as possible.

Sonic went back into his room and lay down on his bed, "I don't believe it. I'm actually trapped. I can't get away from Wario. I don't have a choice – I have to have sex with him if I want to keep my super speed. I wasn't ready for sex the first time he raped me, and I'm not ready now. But I don't have an option. I have to go through with it…I'll have to have sex every night I'm here. I wish I was back home and could talk to my friends in person…I miss them. I really, really miss them. I don't want to have sex…this isn't right. It just isn't right." Sonic flipped over and bit his pillow hard in order to keep himself from crying.


	6. Obeying Wario's Commands

About an hour later Sonic heard someone knocking at his door, "Sonic, may I come in?"

"_It's Marth, not Wario. He's not going to hurt me…" _"Yeah, come in."

Marth opened the door and slipped inside, "Hey, Olimar got our match in three days from now. Apparently Wario hurt his wrist, so he's going to be out of commission for some time as well."

"_Of course he wouldn't say how his wrist was hurt…"_ "Wonderful."

"You've been having a bad week, haven't you?" Marth took a seat on the edge of Sonic's bed.

Sonic rolled over so he was on his back again, "You don't know the half of it."

"Still feeling crummy?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. We're all here for each other, right?"

"I'll be alright as soon as my stomach stops hurting." _"And my head and my arms…" _

"Sure, I can get you an antacid or something. I heard from Ike that this morning you left the dining room without eating and didn't say why."

"Uh…I just don't want to be sick again."

"It's harder to throw up if there's nothing in your stomach."

"Food's making me feel nauseous."

"Ok…well, we still have three days to train for our match. I'll grab you some medicine before I begin practicing. You've got a plan to help us win?"

"Sure do!" _"Oh, I'm going to smile like nothing's wrong, talk like everything's perfect, act like this is all a dream and pretend it's not hurting me."_

XXXXXXXXX

It got harder to pretend as the hour grew nearer. Three quarters past midnight. Sonic was pacing back and forth in his room. He hadn't left it all day, not even to eat. He just wasn't hungry; fear kept clogging up his throat. Would Wario actually bother to take it easy on him? Would he even remove the cuff?

Twelve fifty. Wario would be coming soon and…Sonic didn't want to think about it.

"_Well, I kind of brought this on myself…I'll have to take it. I just hope I can…"_ Sonic took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"So, I see that you're eager to get going, are you?" There was no more time for Sonic to panic, for Wario had just come in.

"I want my powers back," Sonic replied.

"You'll get them after I'm through with you. Get on the bed." Sonic crawled up on the bed and leaned against his pillows. Wario locked the door and then followed Sonic, activating the sound shield as he got onto the bed.

Wario sat in front of Sonic and began rubbing him between his legs, "It's so nice seeing you helpless…good for you; you're not fighting back."

"Just get this over with."

"All in good time, Sonic...now, get on your hands and knees and turn around." Sonic obeyed Wario, shivering a little with the thoughts of what Wario was going to do to him.

Wario grinned at Sonic's reaction. Maybe he really was willing to do anything to get his powers back, _"It's time to see how low he'll go."_ "Alright, repeat after me, 'I am a terrible fighter.'"

"What does repetition have to do with anything?" Sonic gave a small yelp as Wario smacked him hard on his backside.

"I'm seeing if you're actually going to go through with this the entire time. Now say it."

"I am a terrible fighter," Sonic said with clenched teeth. He winced as Wario spanked him again.

"Liar; you don't mean a word you say."

"I don't mean it because it isn't true." That comment earned him three hard hits.

"It isn't that hard, Sonic. Just say it."

"I am a terrible fighter." _"Are you happy now, asshole?"_

"Better…now say, 'I am a worthless whore.'"

"Are you actually here to screw me, or are you here to listen to me recite?" Another two blows.

"I have until dawn to mess with you…and if I'm not satisfied by then, the cuff stays on for another day."

Sonic resisted the urge to snap at Wario again, and finished up the rest of the sentences. Multiple times he had to repeat himself, but he had no clue why.

Sonic couldn't see that Wario could barely keep himself from laughing. Sonic was humiliating himself and putting himself at his lowest point, all for getting his powers back. Now Wario was certain that whatever he did to Sonic, he wouldn't resist, which made things a lot more interesting. Sometimes even when he was satisfied with a sentence he would spank Sonic again, just to hear him repeat the words and verify that his assumptions were correct.

"Well, that's enough of that. Turn around and sit up." Sonic did as he asked and leaned back on his heels.

Wario pushed him back so Sonic was lying on his pillows. Wario began to undo his belt, "You're doing great so far, Sonic. Now we get into the real deal…"

Wario had exposed his lower half, and Sonic could feel panic beginning to rise within him. However, he had to go through with this, so he pushed it back down.

"Start sucking, Sonic. I'll tell you when to stop."

Sonic grimaced at the thought of putting Wario's erection back into his mouth, but what choice did he have? Sonic sat up and then bent down to put his head between Wario's legs. He licked the tip and recoiled, but Wario pushed him back down again. This time he took about a quarter of Wario's erection in his mouth and began sucking. Wario forced him into taking more of the organ, and it wasn't long before Sonic had the entire thing in his mouth. Even though Sonic had been through this before, this time it felt so much worse, mainly because he was doing most of the dirty work himself.

"Go faster," Wario panted, pushing Sonic's head down even more. Sonic began sucking faster, but he still held back due to his own disgust.

"Faster, damn you or you'll have to do it a second time." Wanting to get this entire thing over with as soon as possible, Sonic sped up. Wario rocked his hips back and forth, and he yanked Sonic's ears, forcing the blue hedgehog's head down. The organ in Sonic's mouth nearly choked him with deep thrusts, so he pushed his tongue against the tip in an attempt to keep the organ from going in too far.

Once Wario came into Sonic's mouth, he pulled out and looked at the blue hedgehog. Remembering two nights ago, instead of spitting out the semen Sonic swallowed it. Sonic shuddered at the feeling, and his gaze slowly went down out of embarrassment. Wario laughed and patted his head, "Good boy. You're doing just fine…now, lie down. The best part is about to begin."

"_How many more times am I going to need to change my sheets? Will I have to every night from now on?" _Regardless, Sonic obeyed and lay down.

Wario spread Sonic's legs apart, but instead of thrusting in like Sonic thought he would, he pulled out a small bottle from his vest pocket, "Since you're doing such a good job so far, I've decided to give you a little reward. This lubricant will make everything a lot easier on you." Wario opened the bottle and squeezed a bit onto his hand. He coated his erection with the lubricant, and then used the leftovers to coat Sonic's entrance. Sonic squirmed a little from being touched where he was still sore.

"Here we go, Sonic." Wario grinned at the hedgehog shivering underneath his gaze, and this time he pushed slower in. It was slow enough not to make Sonic cry out, but it wasn't slow enough to be comfortable with him.

Sonic's hands dug into the blankets at his sides, and his breathing sped up like he had just finished a long run. He let out a little whimper of pain when Wario went all the way in, but otherwise made no noise.

"You're tougher than I thought… I'll give you five minutes to adjust then." Wario put a pillow under Sonic's hips in order to raise them and then settled back to wait, causing Sonic to whimper again from the movement. Sonic's insides were still hurting from Wario pushing in already. He could feel Wario inside of him, and the feeling just made him want to throw up.

Time passed slowly for the both of them; for Wario because he wanted to screw Sonic, and for Sonic because he wanted to get this over with. However, when Wario thrust for the first time after the five minutes were up, it didn't hurt half as bad as it did before.

Sonic's fingers began to hurt from gripping his blankets so hard. Wario was enjoying himself immensely, and he lifted one of Sonic's legs up in order to penetrate further into him. Sonic gave a small shout at the action. This was way too deep for him, and his young body couldn't handle it very well. The pain began to take over again, but suddenly he felt something deep inside of him get hit by Wario's thrusting. It caused a weird combination of pain and pleasure for Sonic, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

Sonic didn't even realize that he had made a noise when Wario hit that sweet spot. Wario laughed and said, "That would be your prostate. You liked that, didn't you?" Sonic tried to say 'No', but Wario hit the spot again and he was cut off.

Wario smiled at the prospect of Sonic starting to enjoy himself, _"Now he will be even less likely to tell, for he wouldn't like to admit that he was turned on from this. I'll try to hit his prostate some more. This will be even better if he gets an orgasm." _Wario began thrusting in as deep as he could, trying to find and hit Sonic at that point again.

"St-stop that," Sonic stuttered.

"But you like it, Sonic. You're a filthy whore, for only a slut would enjoy unwanted sex." Wario laughed again as Sonic moaned. He knew where to strike Sonic now. Wario continued to pound hard at that point, and Sonic started to feel warmth pool around his groin.

"No! Stop!" Sonic cried out, but Wario ignored him. Instead, Wario's left hand began searching through the fur just above Sonic's entrance. Wario continued to leave Sonic's pleas unanswered, and he located the slit that led to the hedgehog's pouch. The pouch kept all of Sonic's privates hidden from view, and the only times they would emerge would be for bathroom needs or if Sonic was aroused enough. It was painful for someone to reach in and yank them out.

Wario thrust his pointer and middle fingers into the pouch and forced his way in. Still pounding into Sonic's backside and hitting the hedgehog's sweet spot, he wriggled his way through the pouch's contracting muscles and located Sonic's organ. Wario laughed when he felt the organ stiffening with his attention.

"That's private! Get out of there!" Sonic started to blush and he thrust his hips to the side, trying to force Wario out of his pouch.

Sonic's attacker simply laughed, "You're all mine Sonic, and I want to see you fully exposed…" Using his finger tips, Wario pinched the tip of Sonic's organ and began to pull. Pain raced through Sonic's body like lightning bolts, alerting Sonic to what he already knew - that Wario was trying to force his growing erection out.

The hedgehog sat up, trying to force Wario's hands away, but Wario grabbed both of Sonic's slim wrists in his right hand and held them above his head, pinning Sonic in place. After a few more tugs, Wario's grin widened and Sonic's blush deepened as Wario forced Sonic's confused organ to the surface.

"Cute little dick you have there, Sonic…looks pretty big for your size." Wario began to rub the tip, and Sonic bit his lip to stifle his moans. "And it's getting hard too."

"_There must be something wrong with me. I shouldn't be enjoying this in the slightest. If it wasn't so painful, it probably would feel good – no, it wouldn't! This isn't right! I may only like this in the smallest way, but I shouldn't want this at all! What's wrong with me?" _

Wario let go of Sonic's stiffening organ to tie the hedgehog's hand to the headboard again. Once Sonic was tied up, Wario grabbed Sonic's left hip and sped up his thrusting, while his left hand continued to play with Sonic.

"_I have to stop this somehow! Maybe my first time was with Wario, but at least I can make sure my first orgasm won't be! I have to make him stop!" _ Wario hit Sonic's prostate dead on, and Sonic unwittingly let out a moan.

"You said I wasn't telling the truth when I made you say that you were a whore, but if you could see yourself now! You love it when I smash into you all the way!" Wario pushed in once again.

Sonic's hero instinct had been building up inside him the entire time, but now he wasn't going to hold back. He snapped, "Look who's talking, Wario…you must be pretty damn desperate in order to have sex with a sixteen year old guy. You've actually changed your mind on wanting me to leave so you could get some action in your pathetic life. I'm not surprised the ladies don't like you, because you're such a fucking-" That was as far as Sonic got, for the next time Wario went in he pushed in extremely hard and made Sonic cry out.

"Two things, hedgehog…first off, I could easily go and fuck another fighter, but this is much better."

"How is it better? Is it because I'm sixteen and technically a minor? You really are a creeper, and it makes sense why you need someone young to screw instead of a woman your own age. I can even see the online dating descriptions now: He's strong, charming, witty and a child molester. Wow, what a catch!"

"Funny, Sonic…secondly, the reason why I'm fucking you is because you deserve it."

"What did I do to deserve this?" Sonic gasped at a particularly painful thrust.

"You're a fucking third party character, idiot. No matter how long you stay here, you'll never be one of us. You're just a waste of space, but with being a sex toy you actually have some purpose, and being male you can't get pregnant. You haven't been here as long as the rest of us, and since nobody knows you extremely well who are they more likely to listen to – you or me? Nobody would believe you if you said I fucked you. I won't get caught. Now it's worth keeping you around, for I can have sex whenever the hell I want. Doesn't it make sense why you were invited here?"

"I was invited because people wanted me here, not to be something to fuck when you're all alone and couldn't get a date to save your life."

"That's what you believe, huh? I'm going to get that idea out of your head and replace it with the truth. Get used to it, Sonic." Done with the plan of making it less painful, Wario decided to make things a lot rougher. He let go of Sonic's organ and concentrated on thrusting. Because Sonic did such a good job before though, he was going to stop if Sonic started to bleed, but he wanted to make Sonic so sore he wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow.

Sonic knew that talking back was a bad idea, but he couldn't help it. He hated being put down or seeing others being put down and he tried to hold back his emotions this one time. He was used to being able to speak his mind without major consequences, and now Wario was hurting him terribly. At least he wasn't getting any more strange pleasure from this, which was a terrible thought all on its own, and it kept crawling back into Sonic's mind.

Sonic tried to picture himself somewhere else in order to get away from everything, but every time he did so Wario would thrust in hard and the pain would draw him back into reality. Finally, he was able to keep himself away from the horror – he imagined himself watching a storm, with the lightning being the pain he felt when Wario went in hard, the thunder was from the bed squeaking and Wario moaning, and the rain was from the tears he wasn't allowed to shed.

_**I just noticed there's some sort of pattern to the story! Random stuff and then sex…so weird…anyways, I'm done with that now. This is the last time I'll go into any major detail with the abuse, so the pattern is done. I think this is the most disturbing chapter. Poor Sonic…**_


	7. Keeping the Secret

Three days had passed since Sonic had first accepted Wario's offer, and Wario had been in every night. Sonic was exhausted from trying to endure the abuse, and not eating made things worse. Every time he tried to eat, he just felt ill and couldn't swallow anything, so eventually he simply gave up and avoided food altogether. He was able to drink like normal, but food was out of the question. Most of the fighters could tell that he had lost a few pounds, but since he was still at a fair weight they said nothing of it.

At least he wasn't in unbearable pain. The morning after the fourth time Sonic spotted a small container beside his bed. Attached was a note that said, "This will ease your pain after I'm through with you. However, don't mistake my kindness for weakness. I'm not finished with you." The label said that it was a cream to help sexual abuse or rape victims, and was simply applied to the sore area. Sonic didn't even know such a thing existed, and he felt terrible for having it, but he went into his bathroom anyways and applied some to his entrance. A wave of relief washed over him, but since he didn't know if Wario would give him another container once the one he had was empty, he used the cream sparingly. Afraid that someone might see the container and suspect something (and who wouldn't?) Sonic ran the container under water and rubbed it until the label became peeled and basically unreadable.

So now Sonic and Marth were to take on Olimar and Wario in a Brawl. Sonic used a little extra cream in order to make things easier, and headed down for his match.

Marth gave Sonic a thumbs-up when he appeared in the waiting room, "Ready, Sonic?"

"Ready."

The intercom turned on a minute later, "Sonic and Marth: blue team. Wario and Olimar: red team. Stage: Lylat Cruise. This is a stock match of five with no time limit. All of the items are on and set on normal drop rate. Team mates cannot damage each other. Good luck."

The four fighters entered the arena and took their starting positions.

"In three…two…one…go!"

Sonic immediately headed for Wario. He wouldn't be able to make Wario feel a thousandth as much pain as Wario made him feel, but now it was time for a little payback.

Wario had taken the cuff off, and it didn't seem like he had it with him now. Sonic was much too fast for Wario, and it wasn't long before he sent him flying offstage.

Marth and Olimar were still on pretty even grounds, but Sonic had no eye except for Wario. He was dropped back on the stage and grabbed a green shell that was next to him. Sonic picked up a star rod and used its ranged attack. Wario only got hit once, and retaliated by firing the green shell. Sonic jumped out of the way onto the platform above, but Marth didn't see it coming and was knocked out of bounds. Even terms again.

The fight continued, and soon everyone except Sonic had one life left. Sonic's rage at what Wario was doing to him pushed him on, and even with 352% damage Sonic wouldn't give in. He hadn't even fallen once.

It was pretty obvious to everyone that Sonic and Marth were going to win, but now it was the question of whether or not Sonic could survive the entire match without being KO'ed.

Sonic charged up a smash attack and hit Wario dead on. He immediately chased after his torturer, grabbed him and then threw him off stage. Wario made it back, and he tried to grab Sonic. Sonic rolled back out of his reach and then did a quick dash, knocking Wario back again. Sonic picked up a home run bat that had fallen right behind him, and got ready to strike. Wario was able to stand up just in time for Sonic to hit him for an instant kill. Marth was able to get Olimar with a Final Smash that had appeared, and the match was over – a perfect five stars for each blue team member, for Sonic had knocked out Wario five times, and Marth had done the same for Olimar.

As was customary, they shook hands after the match and congratulated each other. Sonic could tell Wario was downright ticked, but he really didn't care at the moment. What could Wario blame him for anyways? It was a Brawl, and so what if Wario was in it – what was Sonic supposed to do, just stand there and wait to lose? As if!

The other three fighters exited the arena waiting area, and then Sonic's exhaustion hit him like a brick. His stomach was growling and clawing at him, telling him to fill it up, _"Shut up, and damn you…why the hell do you have to be so insistent? Just go away!" _Four days without food…that was a pretty long time. Sonic had had his share of hungry days, but this would be his longest hunger streak to date. How much longer before it really started to show and he could no longer fight? Would it be by the end of the week, or maybe the week after? Well, he'd have to eat at some point…

Sonic avoided walking past the dining room, and began to head back to his room. On the stairs to the second floor he passed Red, who was holding a hamburger out for Charizard, and a paper bag full of them in his other hand. Charizard was easily keeping up with Red in order to get his treat, and the smell of food was overpowering.

"Hey Sonic, good – Charizard, you'll have it in a bit, but I need you to try and – ok, I'll give you one now, and I'll save the rest for later. Give me that!" Charizard had snatched up the bag, ignoring the single burger, and then took flight down the stairs. Red chased after him, laughing at Charizard's intelligence.

Sonic sat down on the stairs, put his head in his lap and began breathing deeply until the dizziness passed. His stomach roared in protest, but his throat rejected the idea of getting anything down it. Man, was he ever tired…

Sonic slowly stood up again and continued back to his room. It was strange that often he needed to rest, and even climbing the stairs was becoming a task. How he had so much strength for that one fight, Sonic could not understand. Sonic crawled underneath his covers to sleep, partly because he was so cold, and partly because he knew that he would need the energy for when nightfall came.

XXXXXXXXX

This night, however, was different. Pit woke up to hear arguing, although he couldn't tell who the Brawlers were or what they were fighting about. The voices raised a little, and then quieted, and then one voice was much louder than the other. It seemed that the fight was in the hallway. Pit's door was only open in the slightest, and if it was closed, he probably wouldn't have been able to hear the quarrel at all. The two fighters seemed to be trying their hardest not to shout.

Pit slipped quietly out of bed. He was wearing simple sky blue silk pajamas that wouldn't rustle at all when he moved, so hopefully he would be able to sneak up on the fighters without being noticed. That way they wouldn't be able to deny that they were squabbling and he could either help solve the debate or at least make them save it for morning when nobody would be woken up. Pit could only speak for himself, but he had three Brawls tomorrow, and his first one was a ten-minute team match, with himself and Link versus the Ice Climbers and Donkey Kong. It was alright if he lost a regular match, for it would be his entire fault if he lost, but there was no way someone else should suffer for the other team member not being fighting fit.

All of this ran through Pit's head quickly and made him stop to think, so he hadn't opened the door just yet. He made his head clear and was about to open the door all the way, but then he heard blows begin to fall. One of the fighters was hitting the other, and considering they weren't in the arena and everyone had some superpower, any wounds received would need to be tended immediately.

Pit quickly opened the door and looked down the hall in both directions, feeling the urge to end the fight straight away. Pit's room was in the middle of the hallway on the east side of the third floor, and the argument was coming from his right. One of the voices was whimpering a little, while the other was extremely angry. Pit nearly went into a full out sprint as he hurried down the hallway. All the while the beating continued, but when Pit was only about two feet from the corner, it grew silent.

The angel looked around the corner, but the hallway was empty. Pit's bare feet hadn't made a sound, not even when he was running on the hardwood floor. Did the fighters somehow hear him coming and had gone into a room? Pit made his way down the hallway, but all was silent. In the middle of the north and south hallways were the stairwells, and Pit decided to check down them, just in case one of the combatants had run away instead of heading back to their room.

Pit used his wings to quicken his descent, and he landed as soft as a butterfly. The entire Base was dark; everybody was asleep because it was just past two in the morning. Who the hell would pick such a time to start a fight? Pit walked around the first floor, looking through each room. It seemed likely that if someone fled, they would head to the ground floor, for it would be the easiest place to hide or escape from.

Finally he came to the main entertainment room. Everything seemed normal at this hour; the television was off, and the couches and chairs were all set straight. However, there was someone sitting on a bench in front of a window, with their arms crossed and on the sill, looking outside.

"Sonic, what are you doing down here?"

Sonic turned to his left at the sound of Pit's voice, then winced and quickly turned back to face the window, like he had forgotten he wasn't supposed to look. The moonlight illuminated Sonic's face for a brief instant, and Pit could see the beginning of a black eye.

"Oh!" Pit walked up to Sonic but remained standing, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Sonic muttered. His eyes held a blank, vacant look, like he was blocking his real emotions from reaching him.

"You're hurt. That's not simply 'nothing'."

"Just fell out of bed, that's all."

"What did you fall on, a rabid dog? That's one major bruise on your face, and – jeez, that's a huge cut on your chest!"

Sonic slapped his hand over the gash in order to stop the flow of blood, "I'm fine, damn it. Go away."

"You're lying. Admit it. You have too many cuts and bruises to say you're ok."

"I just fell out of bed, was dizzy and managed to hurt myself on my side table. The corner cut me and I slipped and hit my eye. I probably injured myself even more on the way down here. Don't laugh," Sonic said in the same monotone voice.

Pit sighed. It didn't look like he was going to get the truth out of Sonic right now, "At least let me treat your wounds. I'm a captain and I know how to heal."

Sonic said nothing, but after a few seconds he slowly nodded. He followed Pit into one of the healing rooms and let himself be picked up and seated on the counter. Sonic took the ice pack from Pit and held it against his left eye. Pit washed the cuts on Sonic's body and bandaged them. The entire time, neither of them said a word.

Pit couldn't help but think, _"Obviously Sonic was the one getting beat up, but who was he arguing with, and what about?" _

After Pit was finished, Sonic set the ice pack down and slipped off of the counter, "It's late, Pit. We should both go to sleep."

Pit shook his head, "Sonic, I'm not some air-headed angel. Don't give me some bull about being dizzy. Somebody deliberately did this to you, but who? Just tell me and I'll go to Master Hand myself, or beat them up, or some combination of the two, if you don't want to. But I can't just let this pass off as nothing."

Sonic looked at Pit and said, "It's really no big deal, Pit. I'll be ok. There's no reason to tell anyone. I don't need help." Sonic's stare wasn't simply blank anymore. There was a small hint of fear in his eyes, like he was scared to tell or have anyone find out the truth.

Pit's hands dropped to his sides in defeat, "Fine, don't tell me. I'll give you the benefit of doubt this one time. But if this happens again I'm taking it to the damn press." Sonic said nothing.

Pit turned to leave, but as a last thought he looked back and said, "One last question, Sonic…who are you actually trying to convince: me, or yourself?" Sonic's expression didn't change, and slowly Pit left the room.


	8. An Angel's Suspicions

Pit spread another slice of toast with Nutella as he waited for Sonic to come in. _If_ he was going to come in, that is. Pit wasn't totally sure if Sonic's injuries would have made him decide to stay in bed all day or not. Although there was a good chance Sonic wouldn't even come in to breakfast anyways – he hadn't been in the dining room for more than half the week. Sonic said that he had been eating later because he wasn't hungry in the morning straight away anymore, but what about the rest of the day?

Shortly after nine-thirty Sonic walked in, or rather, limped in. Sonic was putting most of his weight on his left leg, which he hadn't been doing last night. Sonic had removed the bandages, and because of Pit's healing most of the wounds were pretty well hidden, but Sonic couldn't hide his black eye, although it looked better than before. The bruise around his eye immediately drew attention to his face, and that made you notice his hollowing cheeks and then his ribs beginning to appear. Was Sonic seriously this thin? He looked half-starved.

Sonic slowly lowered himself into a chair at an empty table. He shakily poured himself a glass of milk, but made no effort to take any food. He drank slowly, and Pit noticed that Sonic looked years older.

"Hedgie, what the heck happened to you?" Bowser walked up behind Sonic. Sonic's grip around his glass immediately tightened, although everything else remained the same.

Sonic spoke with a disturbing calmness, "I just was practicing against a clone of myself in the training arena and got hit hard in the head. I shouldn't have set the thing on level nine."

Everyone in the room looked at Sonic funny, but this wasn't the first time somebody had come out with a scrape or two against a level nine, even while training, so they accepted the explanation and went on with their mornings. Pit, however, stared at Sonic. He had told two different stories for the same situation, and Pit was sure neither of them was the truth.

"Pit, hey Pit! Can you hear me? Heaven to angel…?"

"Huh? What? Oh, hey Link."

"Our match is in seven minutes. Hurry up, will you?"

"Sure, sure…" Pit crammed the rest of the bread into his mouth and followed Link. They passed by Sonic on the way out, and he was rolling an apple back and forth between his hands.

"Sonic, be more careful, will you? That's a pretty bad bruise," Link said.

Sonic looked up at the two and replied, "Yeah, I know. I was being careless."

Pit swallowed the last of his meal and said, "You'd probably find it a lot easier to fight if you ate, you know. You can't weigh more than twenty pounds now."

Sonic replied, "I'm heavier than thirty, actually. Thanks for the advice." Sonic stopped rolling the apple back and forth and held it in one hand.

"Just eat something, will you? You're too thin." Sonic threw the apple lightly in the air and caught it, but didn't respond to Pit.

"Let's go, Pit. See you later, Sonic." Link had to pull on Pit's wing slightly to get him to come. Pit looked back at Sonic just in time to see Sonic sigh, put the apple back into the bowl and get up to leave himself. Nobody but Pit seemed to notice Sonic hadn't eaten. More lies.

XXXXXXXXX

Pit sat down on the edge of one of the benches in the waiting room after they won the match, and Link took a seat beside him. Pit waited for the Ice Climbers to check their next match time, ruffling his wings impatiently. As soon as the two were left alone, Link spoke, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Link, Sonic's lying. He invented a whole different tale last night about how he got his black eye."

"What are you talking about?"

Pit quickly told Link what had occurred the night before, with the argument and the wounds. He ended with, "I think Sonic's too scared to tell anyone what's really going on. He's even lied about eating – I saw him put the apple back. No wonder he's losing weight."

"That means that this has to be the fifth day without him eating. How can even find the strength to move around, let alone fight yesterday?"

"What if the same person who beat him up is blackmailing him to make everything appear normal? He'd have to come down and act like everything's fine even if he's hurting."

"Interesting…but the question is who's hurting him?"

"We'll have to find out later."

XXXXXXXXX

At six most of the fighters went to dinner, but Pit and Link went to see Master Hand. Along the way, two little puffballs came running up behind them.

"Kirby and I had a match right after yours, and we couldn't help but listen in to your story, Pit…we want to help too." Meta Knight began rubbing the edge of his cape, "This is serious. I saw Sonic nearly collapse today. He was just standing there and the next thing I know he's barely able to hold himself up. He said that he just felt dizzy for a moment…but something's just not right."

"You two don't have any idea to who's hurting Sonic, do you?" Link asked. Neither of them knew.

"We'll figure this out eventually. Let's go." The four made their way to Master Hand's office, and Pit knocked on the door.

"Come in, whoever's there." Master Hand was floating behind a polished cherry wood desk, stacked high with papers. Shelves and file cabinets ran around the entire circular room, with the only place uncovered was the huge window behind Master Hand. Dark red paneling showed through little spots where there was clear space. Documents were also on the floor and piled on the chairs as well.

"Sorry about the mess, I'm trying to plan a tournament here and that's hard to do with thirty-five competitors…"

"Well, if you don't do something about Sonic, there will only be thirty-four," Meta Knight said.

"What?"

Between the four Brawlers, they explained to Master Hand what had occurred over the past week. When they finished, Master Hand replied, "I know you guys must want me to do something about this, but unfortunately there's nothing I can do."

"What do you mean? Of course you can do something; for hell's sake you run this place!" Kirby snapped.

"Look, if you've already tried and he's refused aid or to say anything, I can't force Sonic to do something he doesn't want to do. Technically I'm unable to force treatment upon him in any way, and even though he's a minor he's saved his planet about a hundred times and that would be more than enough to say that he's able to make good decisions on his own."

"What if he was in a coma and needed major surgery? Would your only choice be to let him die?" Kirby said sarcastically.

"And don't forget the fact that someone's already forcing him to do something he's against. How's this different?" Pit added.

"Ok, to answer Kirby's question that still doesn't fall to me, it falls to his emergency contacts. With yours, Pit, you guys unfortunately don't have any proof, other than hearing the fight, that an outside force is causing him to starve himself or gain injuries."

"I doubt that Sonic has body image issues or likes to beat himself up," Link muttered.

Meta Knight was the only one of the Brawlers that still held his temper under control, "Master Hand, Sonic is going to _die_ if he keeps this up. We can't just ignore this because of some rights. Even if no one else is causing him to do these things, something's wrong. Nobody can deny that. He won't eat, he rests a lot, and he's just not the same hedgehog anymore. We just _have_ to do something before it's too late. There has to be something, _anything _that you can do."

Master Hand considered Meta Knight's words, "Well, I think I'll be able to get a psychiatrist to examine him, but after that any more treatment isn't up to us. Either you'll have to put enough peer pressure on him to talk, or maybe one of his contacts will be able to tell you something. Just because he hasn't told anyone here doesn't mean he hasn't told someone back home."

"That's a good idea! Where's his contact list?" Pit asked.

"Around here somewhere…uh…" Master Hand began shuffling the papers on his desk, "Help me out, will you?"

"Great," Kirby mumbled, "This is going to take forever."


	9. Phone Call Home

It took three hours before they finally managed to uncover Sonic's files. Master Hand pulled out the contact sheet and handed it to Link, "Good luck you guys. I'll start making some calls to see when I can get a psychiatrist here."

The sky was going gray outside and the wind was getting stronger when Kirby entered the kitchen. Kirby threw a package of buttered popcorn in the microwave and brought it upstairs to Pit's room. The four fighters ate their supper of juice and popcorn and discussed who to call first.

"Every time someone talks about these contact sheets, it reminds me of Crazy Hand's explanation on why they need these names – it's so the Hands know who to call to say you didn't make it out alive," Meta Knight remarked as he grabbed another handful of popcorn.

"Totally useful information," Kirby laughed, "So, what about Sonic's next-of-kin?"

"Well, the first name on the list is someone called 'Tails'. Is that a nickname?" Pit asked, licking butter off of his fingers.

"Isn't he the two-tailed fox that picks up and drops off Sonic?" Meta Knight asked.

"Let's find out." Link had washed his hands to get rid of the butter. He looked at the number and dialed. Pit set his phone to speaker so they could all hear and talk.

On the sixth ring somebody sleepily answered, "Hello?"

"Is this Tails?" Meta Knight asked.

"Yeah…" A short pause, "Ok, so this call is coming from the Smasher's Base. Do I know you?"

"Uh, I guess not," Pit replied.

"How many of you are there?"

"There are four of us – Link, Kirby, Pit and myself, Meta Knight."

"Ugh…if there are four of you, couldn't somebody have checked the time zone difference? It's three in the morning where I am…" Tails yawned.

"Heh, sorry…it's ten at night here if you're wondering…anyways, we need to ask you a few questions concerning Sonic." Kirby looked around at the others, wondering if Tails would answer.

There was another pause with a bit of static, "May I ask why?"

"Sonic's been…depressed lately."

"…I know..."

"Yeah well – wait a second you _know_?"

"Yep, we spoke last night, and I haven't been able to get in touch since. Only it wasn't for very long, and he didn't tell me any really useful information…could you tell me anything?"

Pit whispered more to himself than everyone else, "Sonic was beaten last night."

"Recently he's been losing a lot of weight, was beat up once and has no energy. It is obvious something's wrong, but he won't say anything. We thought that maybe he told someone at home what's going on," Link said.

"Well, at least I now know the details of what he's going through…"

"Tails, what did you guys talk about? And has Sonic spoken with anyone else?" Meta Knight asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was just me. Sonic usually calls all of us once a week or so, but so far I'm the only one who's had recent contact. As for what we talked about…" Tails yawned again, and then it was silent.

"Well, what?"

"Tails, are you there?"

"Come on, don't fall asleep now!"

There was a slight rustle as Tails picked up the receiver again, "Sorry, I'm just tired…now I'm really freaked. If what you're saying is true, then this is simply creepy…"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's kind of hard to explain because I'm so drowsy…hang on, I recorded that call. I'll just play the recording and head back to bed…if you need anything else, call me at a more decent hour, please."

"We'll let you know if anything else comes up. Thanks, Tails," Pit said.

"Don't mention it…and tell Sonic I'm worried about him, ok? Anyways, here's the recording…'night everyone."

There were a few clicks while Tails hooked up the recording, and then a bit of static. The wind picked up speed outside. A few seconds more, and the tape began to play.

XXXXXXXXX

"**Hello?"**

"**Tails, it's me."**

"**Sonic! I haven't heard from you in a long while! What's going on?" **

Sonic's voice started to get a little shaky, **"Tails, I'm…I'm in trouble."**

"**What?" **

"**Somebody's hurting me here…badly." **

"**Go talk to another fighter there! They will help you!"**

"**I…I can't." **

"**What? Why can't you do that?"**

"**I just can't!" **

"**I don't understand! What's wrong?"**

"**I don't know what to do or who to turn to here. I can't get away from him and he won't stop hurting me. I don't know what he wants from me and all I can do is wait until he comes back to do everything to me again. I can't stop him and nobody would believe me if I told them what he's doing to me. I'm scared, Tails. I'm really, really scared." **Sonic's voice was choked up, like he was close to crying.

"**I'd believe you right now, no matter what you told me. I've never heard you sound this frightened…I can help if you just let me know what's going on."**

"**I'd rather be beaten up a hundred times if this would just stop…I have to act like everything's ok even though it really does feel like I'm dying inside so no one knows what he does to me…" **

"**What's he doing to you? And who is hurting you?" **

"**He's taken my –" **There was about a minute with no voices, but what sounded like a door shutting and a few dull thuds. Then Sonic picked up the phone again, **"Tails…I have to go." **

"**No, don't hang up! Do you want me to pick you up? I'll fly right over!" **

"**It's ok, Tails. I'm in enough trouble as it is." **There was a bit of grumbling in the background.

"**Sonic…"**

"**I'll…I'll be alright. I miss you, little buddy."**

"**I miss you too, Sonic. Best friends forever, right?" **

"**Yeah…best friends." **There was a quiet sigh, and then Sonic hung up.

XXXXXXXXX

The four Brawlers spent a few minutes in silence, and then Kirby broke it by saying, "What the _fuck_ did we just hear?"

"This is our proof that Sonic's being forced to do these things against his will, even if we don't know who's forcing him. All we need now is the actual recording," Meta Knight's hand unwittingly wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

"I'm sure Tails would be willing to send it over…" Pit reached for the phone again, but Link stopped him.

"Come on, Tails couldn't have been older than what, twelve? Let him rest. We'll call him tomorrow."

"Alright then, tomorrow we can finally get Sonic the help he needs," Kirby smiled.

"Eh, it might be a bit later than that because it'll take time for the recording to come…" Meta Knight replied.

"So what if it takes a few days? It'll come and then we can figure everything out. Nothing can go wrong."

_**And of course, something shall go wrong. Duh! It's what cliché sentences are for! **_

_**I've never actually made a plan on including what really happened that night, but if enough people annoy me I'll somehow find a way to sneak in the night from Sonic's POV. **_

_**Review if you like the story (or if you don't like something about it, because I like to improve my writing. But no flames please - then I just think you're ignorant). It makes me feel loved and gives me an incentive to keep writing! **_


	10. Smashing Storm

"Damn it Kirby, you just _had_ to say that, didn't you?" Meta Knight glared at the pink puffball.

"I didn't know this would happen!" Kirby relaxed when he saw that Meta Knight was only teasing.

What happened was that during the night, the wind became so strong that the power lines attached to the Smasher's Base became severed; which meant there were no lights, television, or Brawls. And all of this meant they wouldn't be able to call Tails to get the recording, for the phone lines were out as well.

"All of the planets in every single universe must have lined up for this to happen," Pit muttered.

"It would have been better to have made Tails mad at us instead of having to wait for this all to get repaired," Link whispered back to Pit.

Master Hand was working with Pikachu to see if they could get the power working again. You could see Master Hand easily against the gray, cloudy sky, and once in awhile you would see the electricity coming off of Pikachu.

All of the other Brawlers were outside as well, braving the chill to wait and see if the power would be restored. A number of Brawls had already been missed, and nobody wanted to hang around and keep guessing on when the arena would work again. Most of them were sitting and rescheduling Brawls, although Pit, Link, Kirby and Meta Knight huddled together on a huge branch in a tree out front with the rest of the Brawlers hanging out below. Sonic was sitting off to the side by himself, pretending to sleep, although he probably was just too tired to pay attention anymore.

Ten minutes later Master Hand called, "Forget it, Pikachu! I'll have to get an electrician to come fix this. All Brawls are cancelled today."

"Oh well…" The fighters sighed and headed back into the dark building. The sky was growing darker with every passing minute, and it was obvious there was going to be a major storm.

"Let's stay out here to talk. Nobody else wants to hang outside," Link said after the others were out of earshot.

"And for a good reason," Kirby muttered, snatching a bit of Meta Knight's cape and wrapping it around himself.

"We've got a problem. Now we have no way of contacting Tails until everything is repaired, and that won't be for a while. After that, we still have to wait for the recording to come, because Master Hand can't take any more action without proof." Pit folded his wings around himself, trying to keep warm.

"I still think it's stupid, actually needing some kind of proof to show that someone is being abused…from the looks of Sonic, it actually is the most logical explanation," Link said, "I wish we could actually look into this more without the recording…"

"Is there a way any of us could take some time off and collect it manually?" Kirby asked.

"Not without being suspicious, I think…we all have Brawls scheduled for the next week and to suddenly cancel them all and go on 'vacation' without making everyone confused would require some real talent. I may only speak for myself here as well, but I don't feel like injuring myself in order to get out of the fights." Meta Knight handed a bit more of his cape to Kirby.

"Maybe we could fake a friend or family death?"

"Ok, who here has a random family member who's 'death' would be easy to make up?" Link asked. No response, "How about any major friends that aren't already known here?"

"Damn, we're screwed for that. Unless anyone can make up a fake great aunt…" Pit blinked as a rain drop hit his nose.

"Ok, forget the death thing. Anyone else have an idea?" Kirby asked.

"I was thinking about this last night," Meta Knight said, "And maybe we really don't need the recording after all. It's possible that we could just tell Sonic we know about the abuse and make him spill. I mean, he's already told Tails; couldn't he tell us?"

"It's a good thought, but I was thinking about this as well…and I think the reason Sonic was beat up was because he _did_ try and tell someone. Now Sonic must be too frightened to say anything and if we ask he just might deny it, or his attacker will come and hurt him again if the guy overhears." Pit put his chin in his hands, "I don't think Sonic will say anything until he thinks he's safe, and that won't be until we find out who is hurting him."

"Also, Sonic said that, 'nobody would believe him if he told'…what doesn't he think we would believe? You can easily tell from his voice that he wasn't lying. Nobody could fake sounding that upset," Link added.

"You know, that's one thing I don't get – why would Sonic not speak out? Forty against one is extremely good odds for Sonic, so there's no way he could be hurt again if he told," Kirby closed his eyes in thought, "What kind of threat would make Sonic so scared to tell?"

"Who knows?" Meta Knight sighed, "Maybe you're right, Pit…anyone up for plan 'C'?"

"We wait for the psychiatrist to examine him and hope Sonic isn't dead by the time we can get in contact with Tails?" Link asked.

"Let's do our waiting inside; it's about to storm!" The four fighters jumped out of the tree and raced back inside while the black clouds above began to let an entire ocean fall.

XXXXXXXXX

The storm grew steadily worse all day long. Everyone had spent the day looking out the windows and talking because it was simply too dark to see with no lights. The four Brawlers had decided on taking some small action and simply told Sonic they were concerned and hoped that he would trust them and say something soon. By sunset, or what should have been sunset, the storm was right overhead and so loud no one could concentrate. Nightfall came, and somehow the world grew darker than it already was. Tired of hanging around watching raindrops make patterns on the windows, most headed to bed early on, hoping to wake up in the morning and find the storm dispersed.

Sonic was sitting on the edge of his bed, swinging his legs back and forth. He wasn't completely sure if Wario was coming in tonight or not, with the storm and all. The noise from the storm would be more than enough to block out any sounds they could make. Sonic couldn't tell what time it was, so how would he know if it was too late for Wario to come in?

"_Ah, screw it…he'll just wake me up if he wants to have fun again." _Sonic curled up and fell asleep instantly.

Maybe it had been minutes, or maybe hours, but Sonic woke up to someone pounding on his door, "Sonic, are you there?"

"_Huh, Wario doesn't knock, he comes right in…" _"Yeah, what's going on?"

Captain Falcon opened the door and immediately dragged Sonic off of the bed, "Do you have any idea what's going on? Man, everyone was wondering where you were…"

"I was asleep, damn it, and I wasn't the only one!"

"Didn't you hear the announcement that was, like, a half hour ago?"

"What announcement?"

Captain Falcon shook his head and began to pull Sonic out of the room, "Dude, the storm has gotten worse and now the main floor is flooded. There's only about two inches of water down there right now, but it's going to keep rising unless we stop it. We need all the help we can get."

"Is that why everyone was so worried about me?"

"No, we thought you'd gone onto the roof with the other group and maybe slipped and fell off and–"

"Ok, two things: First off, I have good balance and wouldn't fall, thank you very much, and secondly, what the heck is up with the roof?"

"The wind is clogging up the eaves troughs with debris and adding to the flooding; debris is also hitting the shingles, making the shingles come loose. To add onto the problem, with all of this wind and rain and the steep roof it's nearly impossible to keep your footing. Only the lightest ones are able to stay up there for long, because they are able to quickly shift their footing when needed if a shingle moves under them, which the shingles don't do often under their weight, and considering most of them are short, they can take shelter from some of the storm."

"I fall into both of those categories. Which way should I take to the roof; north, south?"

Captain Falcon gave Sonic a quick glance, "Um…I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why isn't it?"

"Dude, have you even looked at yourself lately? You're nothing but skin and bones!"

"And you're telling me that being 'nothing but skin and bones' is more suited to lifting heavy buckets of water than digging out a bunch of twigs and leaves?"

"Don't you hate water?"

"Yes, but if they need me up on the roof I'm going."

Captain Falcon muttered to himself, "Fuck, Master Hand is going to kill me…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing…the other Brawlers went to the north stairwell and up those little steps in the wall. Climb up that way and open the trapdoor onto the roof, for the others should be nearby. And please, tie yourself to someone else? I don't want to be held responsible for your death…"

"If I fall, tell Master Hand I ran away from you onto the roof. I'm off." Sonic quickly dashed away before Captain Falcon could change his mind.

In the right hand corner of the stairwell were little hand and foot holds, like long grooves carved into the wall. Sonic looked up at the trapdoor, _"I need to put aside my emotions for now and focus on helping as much as I can. I was never raped and I'm not being abused…" _Sonic took a deep breath and quickly climbed up and onto the roof.

XXXXXXXXX

This storm must have had the power of a hurricane. Rain came down in sheets, drenching Sonic before he was even on the roof for two seconds. He could see a few fighters digging quickly into the troughs and flinging the debris off the side, although they were too blurry for him to figure out who they were.

"Sonic, tie yourself to me!" Sonic blinked back the rain to see Pikachu standing a few feet in front of him, completely soaked.

"Got it," said Sonic as he tied the rope around his waist.

"Great! We really need your help. These things are getting clogged faster than we can unclog them." Pikachu leaned against the roof and began to slide across, and Sonic copied him. The pelting rain and loose shingles made it hard to stand, but like Captain Falcon had said the more weight on them, the more often and farther the shingles moved.

It took nearly three minutes to cross a small stretch of space, which in normal weather would take all of three seconds for anyone. The two bent down and began scraping out the gunk. Leaves, twigs, pinecones, even a few rocks made their way into the troughs. And of course, water: dirty, muddy water. Their hands quickly grew dirty; debris and rain was flung into their eyes and made them sting; and they both grew cold, but they couldn't stop. Sonic's hands were warmer from his gloves, but Pikachu's were turning an odd shade of blue. Every time they got up to move to another place, Sonic took the time to help warm Pikachu's freezing hands.

So far Sonic had only seen two other groups: Ness and Lucas were both busy rummaging through a stuffed corner, and they had passed Jigglypuff and Lucario who were trying to get a huge rock out. Sonic was surprised that Jigglypuff wasn't being blown away, but Lucario's weight was probably holding her down. Pikachu said that Kirby and Meta Knight were together somewhere as well, as well as Yoshi and Diddy Kong, and Olimar with Squirtle, but Sonic hadn't seen the others.

Pikachu and Sonic now were on one the most dangerous parts of the roof; right above the main entrance. If either of them fell now and weren't attached to each other, they would fall onto the little roof above the entrance before smacking onto the stairs three stories down, a fall that contained so many sharp edges that it would most likely prove fatal.

The two of them began clawing their way through the muck, getting colder and more exhausted by the second. Neither of them knew how long they had been on the roof, or how much longer before the storm would end. They were growing tired, and that made their movement more sluggish and sloppy. They sometimes dropped the handfuls of junk they were holding, and even in the cold they were starting to fall asleep.

It was no wonder that disaster struck. One of the shingles under Pikachu's feet began to slide, and he didn't react fast enough before he lost his footing and slipped off of the edge.

"Pikachu, NO!" Sonic immediately got onto his belly and grabbed the rope with both hands, an instant reflex. It tightened around both of their waists, letting Pikachu see the height from which he was being dangled over. Little pebbles bounced off of Sonic's cheeks as he tried to peer down and see how Pikachu was doing.

"Sonic, I think…oh shit!"

"What's going on?" Sonic had to shout in order for Pikachu to hear.

"The shingle must have cut the rope! It's going to break!" Just as Pikachu said the words, it happened. The rope snapped in two, but Pikachu was able to move fast enough this time and grabbed the other end.

The rope came loose for a brief moment around Sonic's waist and had slipped up to his shoulders. Now Sonic had Pikachu's full weight on his weak arms. It would have been easy to hold Pikachu before, but now…Sonic couldn't let him fall!

Pikachu tried to climb up the rope, but it was too soggy and his exhaustion made him quickly abandon the idea, "Sonic, there isn't anything to hold on to down here. You have to pull me up!" Pikachu's face was streaked with dirt, and the rain running down his face made him look like he was crying.

"I…I don't know if I can!" Sonic tried to haul Pikachu up, but with the lack of food and his fatigue, he could barely lift the electric rodent an inch.

"Please, Sonic, try harder! I'm going to die if you let me go!" Now Pikachu's face was worried, _"Oh no, he's too thin and weak and now he can't do it…"_

"Hang on …here I go!" Sonic used all of his strength and began to lift Pikachu. No matter how hard he tried, he was only able to get Pikachu up a small distance at a time. Inch by inch, Sonic fought the wind and rain to save his friend. Pikachu was almost able to reach the roof, but then a powerful gust of wind blew, nearly sending Sonic toppling after Pikachu. Sonic was starting to think that perhaps he couldn't win…

"_No, I won't fail; I refuse to let Pikachu die. I can and I __**will**__ do this!"_ Sonic used all of his remaining stamina and pulled Pikachu back onto the roof.

Pikachu clawed at the shingles and made his way to Sonic. The two of them clutched each other, panting heavily, shocked at how close they had come to losing against the storm.


	11. Just Our Luck

A few minutes must have passed before a trapdoor began to open on their left. Mario lifted himself halfway through and shouted to be heard, "Guys, get inside now! A tornado is coming our way!"

"What about the others?" Sonic called back.

"Luigi and I will get them. Both of you get inside now!" Mario climbed through and helped Luigi up. They tied themselves together and began to walk along the roof.

"I didn't know hurricanes and tornadoes happened around here…" Sonic muttered.

"They d-don't; this is j-ju-just an unusually b-bad storm. Come on…I'm fre-freezing," Pikachu stuttered as he slowly stood to get to the trapdoor. Together the two fighters made their way to the hole.

"You go first," Sonic said. Pikachu nodded and began to slowly climb down.

Sonic then began to follow Pikachu. The Base was quiet compared to the pounding rain outdoors, blocked by the trapdoor's cover. Sonic's hands were so cold and stiff that he could barely hold onto the small ledges. Everything he touched became wet. He didn't get very far down before he felt a pair of hands grab his waist and lift him off of the ladder entirely.

"Damn, you're freezing! I need another towel over here!" Link had grabbed Sonic and wrapped him in a towel, and still holding onto him Link accepted another towel from Samus and wrapped Sonic in it as well.

Sonic turned his head slightly to see Marth holding onto a towel-wrapped, shivering Pikachu, and Red was just accepting his arctic-cold Squirtle from Ike and covering him up as well.

Master Hand came floating up the stairs and spotted the three chilled fighters, "Oh no, what was I thinking, sending you all up there? I should have gotten you guys raincoats and gloves…what have I done? Take anyone who comes off the roof down to Charizard immediately and get them warm. The last thing we need on top of a tornado is a group of frozen Brawlers." Master Hand went up the last flight of stairs to check the top floor.

"I don't think any protection would have helped us…it's raining elephants and whales, not cats and dogs." Sonic shivered, now realizing how cold he really was.

"Regardless, you guys did a good job; the flooding has stopped. Hopefully everyone gets off of the roof safely…" Link stared at the trapdoor for a second before heading downstairs.

Link carried Sonic in his arms like you would a little puppy. He hurried down the stairs, Sonic cuddling closer to Link for his heat. The main floor was now clear of water, even if it was still a little damp, and on it was the auditorium, which had no windows and was the perfect place to go during this storm. At first it was used for orientation, and for the rest of the time it showed scores, achievements, little clips of matches and such.

Now the screen was black and the room was lit by flashlights and battery-powered lanterns. The flat floor was covered by sheets of plastic so they had something dry to walk on. A battery-powered radio told the news about the storm, even though half of the time it was cut off by static. The chairs were folded and pushed to the side in order to make room for about a dozen air mattresses being pumped up by Brawlers. Others were dragging pillows and blankets from upstairs or hurrying to save some of their prized possessions in their rooms.

Pit was using a foot pump in order to blow up a queen-sized air mattress, "Link, would you mind having a go at this? My legs are getting tired."

"Sure, hold this then." Link thrust Sonic into Pit's arms.

"What? Oh it's you, Sonic."

"You're warm…" Sonic snuggled into Pit's chest.

"And you're a block of ice!" Pit made his way through the organized chaos to Charizard and set Sonic down beside him. Charizard shifted slightly to make sure his body was touching Sonic. The heat from Charizard immediately began warming Sonic, and he dozed for some time before being woken up by Pit shaking his shoulder. Now most of the others that were on the roof were already there, and the last few were just being brought in, Mario and Luigi not far behind.

"I'm going to grab a few things from my room, death-defying me…is there anything you want me to save, just in case?" Pit asked Sonic.

"There's a green box in my room, on the top shelf in my closet…grab that. The rest can be replaced."

"What's in it, if you mind me asking?"

"Photos, trophies, a few keepsakes…personal stuff, you know."

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't saving speed-enhancing drugs or something." Sonic stuck his tongue out at Pit as the angel hurried through the room.

Peach came in bearing a tray of hot chocolate, "Here you are, Sonic."

"Thanks, but I thought the power was out…" Sonic could barely keep a grip on the cup; his hands felt so stiff.

"It is, but Crazy Hand finally decided to help out and somehow rigged up a hot plate out of an electric toothbrush, a hairdryer and the microwave; don't ask me how. It requires a dozen batteries and that thing drains them in just a half hour. Anyways, now he's set on making everyone something warm to drink, and those on the roof get the first batch." Peach dropped a red bendy straw into his blue cup and moved on. Sonic sipped his hot chocolate trying to get warmer and watched the others try to get everything organized.

By the time Pit came back, those that were on the roof were warmed up and ready to help. Crazy Hand had spent some time warming up hot water so they had taken the time to wash a lot of the grit off, and Master Hand had come back with a change of clothes for those who needed it.

For the next fifteen minutes everyone was busy trying to get everything settled down for the night. Nobody was thinking that they were all going to die, but there were thoughts of the Base coming down and Brawls being cancelled for months. The radio spurted out information about the tornado about twenty miles away from their current position. It could pass them, but Master Hand wasn't taking any chances.

Another ten minutes more and the radio said that the tornado would pass, but extremely powerful winds would come nonetheless.

"Well, that's what everyone needed to hear. All of you get to bed. Crazy and I will watch the rest of the night." Master Hand picked up the radio and floated towards the exit.

"Who wants more HOT CHOCOLATE?" Crazy Hand came out with yet another tray of steaming cocoa.

"That must be his sixth batch…" Snake muttered.

"Leave it on the side; the Brawlers can grab some later. Let's go." Master Hand floated out of the room with Crazy following, waving.

"This isn't very good; thirty five fighters and only fourteen mattresses," Ganondorf motioned to the makeshift beds.

"We're doubling and tripling up, then," Red replied, letting Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard lay down beside him.

"If you put those guys back into their Pokéballs that would make it thirty two…"

"Hey, the four of us are sharing a double bed!"

"Just drop it and go to sleep, damn it," Mario snapped as he lay down next to his brother. Ganondorf glared at him, but let it go.

"Come on Sonic, you can share with Pit and myself," Link said as he grabbed Sonic's hand and led him to the mattress Pit was blowing up earlier. Link and Pit had already decided that because they didn't know who was hurting Sonic it would be safer if he was sleeping with them.

Sonic was so tired he didn't object when he was forced into the middle. The mattress felt weird when someone else moved, but with the two bodies on either side and blankets on top, Sonic was warm and fell asleep quickly. Everyone called out a few sleepy 'goodnights' before drifting off as well. Pit and Link, however, struggled to stay awake as they talked over Sonic's head.

Pit yawned, "I didn't see anyone act hostile or threatening towards Sonic today."

"Yeah, they both must be working hard at keeping this all a secret," Link whispered back.

"I'm surprised at how much strength Sonic has. Even in his condition, he was able to go out in the storm and he saved Pikachu…"

"He can do those things _now_, but how much longer will he still have the energy?"

"I don't know…" Pit yawned again, "I'm really tired…'night Link."

"Goodnight, Pit." Link fell asleep only a few seconds later.

XXXXXXXXX

Hours passed, and even though the storm had let up some the howling winds and pounding rain were still present. Everyone was so exhausted, however, that they did not waken. It was five in the morning when they had all fallen asleep, and now the hours were ticking by with little change. Nine, ten, eleven in the morning…

Suddenly a thunderous crash rang throughout the Base, startling everyone awake. It was much, much louder than any thunder they had heard before.

"What was that?" Lucas said, rubbing his eyes.

"Who knows…someone go check it out," King Dedede yawned before closing his eyes again.

Link looked and Pit and nodded. Both of them stood up, and Link picked Sonic up to take with them. Even with Meta Knight and Kirby in the room, better safe than sorry. Sonic was still sleepy and his eyes were half closed. Link carried him on his hip like a toddler, and Sonic's hands gripped his tunic in the front and back.

The three of them hurried down the hall towards the arena along with a few other Brawlers, to where the crash had come from. When they rounded the final corner to the west end of the Base, where the arena was, they all stopped in shock.

One of the huge trees surrounding the Base had toppled down onto the arena, smashing through the roof. It was completely destroyed.

_**I know what people thinking; thirty three fighters total? Who'd I take out?**_

_**I've crossed of Mr. Game & Watch, just because it's kind of weird with a 2D character, and Toon Link, because one Link is enough and I really don't want to mention that guy all the time. Plus, every time I fight Toon Link as a level nine he always manages to piss me off! So this is his punishment…in your face Toon Link! Mwa ha ha! **_

_**Yes, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard all have their own stats; I've made them separate 'characters', even if Red is their trainer. **_


	12. Psychiatrist Session

The storm finally ended by noon, and had settled to a fine drizzle by evening. Master Hand was able to hire a contractor (using a phone Crazy Hand had made from a toaster, a video game controller and an actual phone) to fix the arena and repair the electricity, but of course the road had to be jammed with fallen trees and collapsed power poles. Far into the night the Brawlers and two Hands moved most of the large objects out of harm's way so construction could begin in the morning. During a quick break Link and Meta Knight tried using Crazy Hand's invention to call Tails, but it wasn't powerful enough to make extremely long distance calls.

The Base itself was unharmed by the storm, other than being a little wet on the ground floor, so everyone was sent back to their rooms for the night. Unfortunately for Sonic, Wario came to his room, so he was kept awake not by pounding rain but by the pounding on top and inside of him. However, Sonic was getting better at blanking out his mind to what was happening, so he didn't feel much. On most nights after oral sex Sonic could just lie down and disappear into the safety of nothingness. He would fall asleep after Wario was through with him, and cleaned himself up in the morning. Sonic wasn't sure if his ability to almost deny what Wario was doing to him was a good thing or a bad one. It didn't work all of the time, but it worked often enough to help Sonic cope.

At nine the next morning, the company came, and the Brawlers were awakened by the pounding of hammers and the grinding of saws. Master Hand called everyone outside at ten so they could get to work cleaning the yard.

"Ok, Samus, R.O.B and Bowser, get busy on that toppled tree over there. Falco and Snake can work on those two saplings…"

While Master Hand was dividing up jobs, a shiny black sports car came rolling up the path. It drove around the fountain in the center and stopped a few feet away from the Brawlers at the front entrance.

Master Hand hurriedly assigned everyone else, "Luigi and Ness can set the tennis nets straight and finally Fox and Squirtle can work on the pond. Off with all of you." The fighters dispersed.

"Hey Master Hand, what am I doing?" Sonic actually would have liked to sit on the side for once; he was going on his eighth day of starvation and he was exhausted just from standing around, but he couldn't let the others know how he really was feeling.

"You stay here; I need to talk with you."

The door to the car opened and out stepped a middle-aged man. He had short, ruffled chestnut-brown hair and dull gray eyes. He was of an average weight, going soft around the middle, and was wearing a pin-striped gray suit. He was carrying a filled tan folder under one arm. On his wrist was a gold watch which he checked constantly, like he was going to have to leave for something in a minute.

Sonic immediately disliked him.

The stranger spoke, "Pardon my tardiness, but that storm caused a lot of problems with the roads. Crews should have gotten them cleared by now…sorry, I should introduce myself. Dr. Brendan Nam, youth psychiatrist."

"You're a youth psychiatrist? Master Hand, what's this about?" Sonic asked.

Master Hand sighed a little and turned to face Sonic, "You're getting too thin and won't tell anyone what's going on. I've called in Dr. Nam to examine you."

"Examine me? I'm perfectly fine!"

Master Hand waggled his fingers at Sonic, "You're not ok in the slightest, and that leads me to my second point…until you start gaining weight and get your health back on the right track, from this moment on I'm hereby banning you from training or entering any Brawls."

Sonic's eyes went wide, "But…but I'm healthy! I've only lost a few pounds…"

"You have to be terribly underweight by now. I'm sticking with my decision, and if advised by Dr. Nam if you get much worse I'm sending you to an eating disorders clinic."

"Don't send me away! I'll start eating aga—" Sonic quickly shut his mouth, realizing what he was just about to say.

Dr. Nam raised an eyebrow at Sonic, "Were you about to say, 'eating again'?"

"Uh…" _"Nice going, Sonic."_

Master Hand jerked upright, "Does this mean you haven't been eating for…? Go with Dr. Nam immediately. I need someone to evaluate you right now." Turning to Dr. Nam, "You can use my office, first door on your left when you enter. I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

"Very well then; come, Sonic." Dr. Nam walked towards the Base, and Sonic had no choice but to follow.

XXXXXXXXX

"Now then, Sonic," Dr. Nam moved two chairs so they were facing one another, "Have a seat."

Sonic sat down, glad to relieve his aching legs. For once the room was clean, to a point: everything was now in a two-meter high pile on Master Hand's desk.

Dr. Nam sat a bit forward in his chair to look through the file he was carrying. Sonic leaned on one armrest and rested his head against the high, red velvet back of his chair.

"Master Hand sent me a full report a few days ago and advised me to come and examine you. Summed up the report says that you've been losing a lot of weight, having sleeping troubles and was beaten up outside of the fighting arena once and sustained injuries, including a black eye. Correct?"

"Yes," Sonic muttered. _"I'll have to lie most of my way through this thing. I can't let anyone know what's going on."_

"Now, the one thing the papers do not mention is who attacked you that night."

"I don't know."

"How could you not know?"

"It was dark and I didn't see my attacker."

"And did you not think to fight back or chase after them?"

"I was too tired to think, and I was hurt."

"Mm…" Dr. Nam shifted through a few more papers, "Alright, let's talk about your eating habits. Many fighters have expressed concerns about your weight. For the past week you haven't been in the dining room at regular meal times and 'simply keep getting thinner'. You've said you were eating, but Master Hand thinks that's a lie. True?"

"No, I've eaten."

"From the looks of you I'd say you must be eating the equivalent of a mouthful a day, _if_ you're eating at all."

"That would be about right."

"I'm going to cut right to the chase here. Are you unhappy with your looks? Do you like what you see in the mirror, or do you think you're overweight and need to lose a few pounds?"

"_Oh, so this guy thinks I'm a body-obsessed type of teenager." _"I just haven't been hungry lately."

"Master Hand wrote that you were fine until nine days ago, which you were sick, and then your health began deteriorating. Is it because of that minor case of the flu that you can no longer eat?"

"_Actually, it was that night that caused me to stop…"_ "Yeah, that's when I really couldn't stomach anything."

"Ah, could be a case of gastritis…" Dr. Nam wrote something on a note pad.

"It could be a case of what?"

"Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining, which makes eating painful. You may not feel your stomach hurting a lot because there isn't anything in it to digest, but for you I'd say that adding food to it would make you sick, correct?"

"Yep, that's right."

"For your sleeping habits, however, gastritis does not completely cover your condition. Yes, it does make a patient have less energy and a loss of appetite, but from what I've read here you've haven't mentioned any abdominal pain, and if you've had gastritis for this long you've had to feel some. Nor was there any mention of you taking an antacid or any sort of medication, which would really help with the pain. This is a combination of multiple cases."

Sonic did not reply, so the psychiatrist continued, "You've also shown signs of anxiety and avoidance of your social life. Master Hand had said that despite a minor rough start, you've made quite a number of friends here, yet now you won't speak with them or let them near you very often."

"Did he mention I don't tolerate huge amounts of affection?"

"Yes, but this is lower than normal…" Dr. Nam scribbled some more notes down, and tapped his pen against his pad. He looked up and said, "Sonic, do you have a girlfriend back home?"

"You mean like someone I go on dates with and all that?"

"Well, unless you have a different sexual orientation, if you get what I mean…"

"Yeah, I get it." _"Man, I enjoy sex with Wario sometimes, and I think it's because he hits that spot…but what if it isn't completely that? Does that mean I'm attracted to men as well as women? Now I'm confused…" _

"Sonic, are you still with me?"

"Oh yeah, sure, whatever..."

"Are you going to answer my question?"

Sonic thought of Amy, "Uh…it's sort of yes and sort of no."

"Care to explain?"

"Mind if I don't?"

Dr. Nam wrote another note down, "So, Sonic…are you sexually active?"

Sonic's eyes went wide at the sentence, _"Well, I should have guessed he was coming up to that." _"No, I'm not."

"Are you two practicing safe sex?"

"Did you just hear me? I said 'no', damn it!"

"I know this must be awkward for you to talk about…"

"Then why the hell are you bringing it up?"

Dr. Nam shook his head, "Alright, we'll put that topic aside for now, ok? Next thing; are you homesick?"

"Eh, a little, but I can leave anytime I want and go back for a visit, so not really."

"Do you miss your girlfriend?"

"I miss all of my friends, and she's not exactly my girlfriend."

"Do you think she may be cheating on you? That often causes stress in youth…"

"Hah, no way, she wouldn't chase after anyone else."

Dr. Nam sighed, "Well then, I'll have to bring the topic back into discussion. So you're a virgin, are you?"

"Yes, I am."

"And you're sixteen, correct?"

"Yes, sixteen, you should know that from those papers of yours."

"And you're not interested in having sex currently?"

"No! For hell's sake, you should have been a sex ed. teacher, not a psychiatrist!"

"Have any of the fighters here made you feel uncomfortable?"

"No! They're fine!"

"Sonic, do you know why I'm bringing sex up in this conversation?"

"Ok, out with it! What's this all about?"

Dr. Nam looked at Sonic with concern for the first time in their meeting, "I'm asking you all of these questions because you're showing the exact same signs as a victim of sexual abuse."

Sonic's hand tightened on the armrest, _"Oh no; I haven't been disguising the truth well enough! He's going to figure it out...I need to lie!"_

"Sonic, I know you may be ashamed at having been raped, but this really needs to come out."

"I haven't been raped."

"Touched, then? Was another fighter here touching you inappropriately, maybe the same one who beat you up?"

At that moment, Sonic had a quick flashback: the day Marth and he had won that Brawl against Wario and Olimar; Wario had come in late in the afternoon, startling Sonic because Wario had never done that before. He locked the door and snapped the anklet on Sonic before making Sonic lie down and then ran his hands all over him. Sonic wasn't allowed to move, so he laid there shivering as Wario went near and fondled his private areas.

Sonic shuddered slightly at the memory before replying, "No, they haven't put their hands on me."

"You do realize how important this is for you to tell me, right? You should not have to keep quiet and let yourself be put through any sort of abuse. You have the right to your body."

"_I used to have the right to my body, but not anymore. It is Wario's now; his own personal playground. I have to let him do whatever he wants with me, no matter how dirty and horrible it makes me feel. I'm no longer pure, so it doesn't matter what he does to me anymore." _

"I know what to do if someone gets sexual with me, alright? Nobody has made sexual advances towards me, and if they did I would tell straight away and get them in trouble. I'm still a virgin and I hope to keep it that way for some time."

Dr. Nam narrowed his eyes, but finished up the page he was writing on, ripped it off and put it in the folder along with the rest of his papers, "Alright then, Sonic. I need to talk with Master Hand, and I'm guessing he'll want you to take it easy for the rest of the day."

"Of course, weak, skinny thing I am."

Dr. Nam turned to Sonic outside of the office, "Nice meeting you, Sonic. Good day." He walked towards the front door while Sonic headed for the stairs.

XXXXXXXXX

On the front step Dr. Nam motioned to Master Hand, and he floated behind the doctor to his office.

"Well, what's up with the speed demon?" Master Hand remained floating in front of Dr. Nam while he took a seat again.

Dr. Nam opened up his file to refer to his notes, "From my discussion with him a number of things could be going on. The first thing is that he simply has a case of gastritis, easily treated with a few antacids, and with his stomach hurting that could contribute to his restlessness and his lack of energy. However, he did not mention any abdominal pain, so I do not think this is the case."

"How would you know about that?"

"My brother is a doctor and keeps talking about this and that affliction. Gastritis is just one of those I remember."

"I see…carry on."

"The second thing is that he may be homesick. This theory seems even less likely than the first because he seems like the type who's happy wherever he goes."

"I simply cannot see Sonic becoming this upset because of that."

"Yes, and clearly if he was homesick he could call or visit his home, and he has friends here, so there's no real complications there. Body image issues also do not seem to be a problem with him"

"Well, anything else?"

"There's one final theory, and it's easily the most disturbing of all. The third and I do not like to admit but the most likely possibility of what's going on with Sonic is that he's being abused by another fighter here but is afraid to admit it."

Master Hand flinched at the thought of the four Brawlers theory being correct, "But who would be abusing him, and why?"

"Whoever is doing it must have blackmailed Sonic into keeping everything quiet, for Sonic was basically in denial of being hurt. He said he did not know the identity of his attacker that one night."

"I'm sure he does know."

"Precisely, and as for why, the answer is simple. He's strong, so he would be able to endure the abuse, he's young, so there was a high chance of him being a virgin, and he's one of the two third-party characters, making it likely that nobody here would know him extremely well and he would be less likely to turn to someone here for help."

"What do you mean by 'was a high chance of being a virgin'? You're not saying…"

"Unfortunately, I am. The most likely cause of Sonic's behavior is that he's being _sexually_ abused by another fighter here."

Master Hand clenched into a fist, "No…that can't be!"

"See, this is exactly why Sonic isn't telling anyone; even you don't think he could have been raped."

"I accept the possibility of him being raped, but by one of the fighters here…how could they!" Master Hand was curled up tight in anger, "I swear if I find out who's done this to Sonic I'll rip out their lungs and beat them over the head with their own organs!"

"There's no need to get violent…however, it's possible that you could have the perpetrator castrated for rape, for that will really hurt him…"

"Alright, if that's legal I'll do that! But how are you so sure it's a male?" Master Hand relaxed slightly.

"It's harder for a female to rape a male, and Sonic isn't into sex. Also, the rapist, if there is one, must be older than Sonic, for otherwise I don't see how they could threaten him…"

"That doesn't narrow down the list a lot, but it helps a little…thank you."

"Oh, and one other thing; the abuser — if Sonic is indeed being sexually abused, although he might not have been raped just yet — is still hurting Sonic. He hasn't stopped because he is getting away with it."

"I will do everything I can to find out the truth."

"Try not to go public with this information, however…Sonic really is set on having as few people as possible knowing, and part of that is probably due to embarrassment."

"I'm not surprised…alright, I won't tell anyone about this, and I'll start keeping a sharper eye on Sonic. I'll call you if I need you to check Sonic out again. Thanks."

Dr. Nam nodded, "I'll fax you a copy of my notes as soon as your power comes back." He took his leave.

Master Hand floated behind his desk and looked out the window, "Poor Sonic…I invite him to a tournament of dreams and yet for him it ends up to be nothing but a nightmare."

_**It's going to be busy for me this weekend, so I posted early. Go me!**_

_**Anyways, so you think that the last two chapters are simply story-filler? Actually, they aren't; you just won't know the truth behind the storm until…some time later (not totally sure of the true chapter number yet, although I think it's somewhere around 25).**_

_**But here's your hint: Sonic commented on how he didn't know hurricanes and tornadoes happened around the Base, and Pikachu replied that they didn't…hmm…so this isn't…natural? **_

_**Don't worry about me going off track (or falling off of the track entirely); everything will make sense in the end!**_


	13. Bad Dream

Sonic rolled back and forth on his bed, trying to get warm enough to fall asleep. Sleeping was Sonic's only true escape from his pain, but now it was starting to become even worse than being awake. Sometimes he would sleep without dreams, and other times he would relive one of the assaults he had gone through.

Finally Sonic could feel the drowsiness take over. In his state of being half awake and half asleep, he thought to himself, _"What am I going to do if Dr. Nam says to Master Hand that I'm being abused? Will he try to figure out who's hurting me? What if Wario blames me and I lose my powers? Then I'll have gone through all of this torture for nothing!"_

His lethargy soon took over any thoughts, and Sonic was at the edge of being fully safe for another time. But before he could doze off completely, a dream began creeping into his mind.

"_Oh no, not again, please no!" _

The dream dragged him in, and Sonic was too far away from blackness now to save himself from the memory.

XXXXXXXXX

**This was it. He was finally going to tell someone what Wario was doing to him. He had to get it out, "He's taken my–" **

**Then, Sonic heard the noise he now dreaded the most: his door shutting. Wario was in the room. Sonic was completely frozen and couldn't even look at the door. **

"**What do you think you're doing, hedgehog?" Wario grabbed one of Sonic's quills and pulled back. The chair toppled over and Sonic's head hit the ground. **

**Sonic was lying on his back, staring up at Wario who was standing over him, "I…I was…"**

"**You were going to tell someone what's going on with you, right?" Wario snapped the anklet on Sonic. "Listen to me, Sonic. Either you say goodbye to your little friend or you pay the consequences," he hissed in a low tone.**

"**I swear I wasn't talking about this," Sonic replied his voice soft as well. **

"**Oh, really…that last sentence was quite suspicious…" Wario smirked, "Maybe your friend would like to hear me fuck you?"**

"**You wouldn't dare. If you do that, later he'll call back and you'll be found out."**

**Wario placed a foot on Sonic's neck and pressed lightly, "True, but your powers will be gone. Don't try my patience, hedgehog…you want to risk it?" **

"**No…" **

"**Then tell him goodbye. If you don't, you lose your powers as well as your friend. Do it." Wario removed his foot.**

**Sonic shakily stood up and picked the receiver up again, "Tails…I have to go." **

"**No, don't hang up! Do you want me to pick you up? I'll fly right over!" **

"_**Oh Tails, you'd do anything for me, wouldn't you? I just wish you could help me, I wish I had just three seconds more to tell you everything, but you can't and I don't." **_**"It's ok, Tails. I'm in enough trouble as it is."**

**Wario snarled at Sonic, "Hurry it up, hedgie." **

**Tails' voice grew softer, "Sonic…" **

"**I'll…I'll be alright. I miss you, little buddy."**

"**I miss you too, Sonic. Best friends forever, right?" **

"**Yeah…best friends." Sonic sighed, and then slowly hung up. **

**Wario activated the shield, but for some reason it was a lighter red this time, "Good…" **

**Sonic slowly began to walk towards his bed, but Wario stopped him, "We're not going to do that just yet, Sonic." **

"**What are you talking about?" Sonic whispered. **

"**You almost told someone…and for that you shall be punished." Sonic was able to turn halfway around before Wario punched him hard in the stomach. **

**Sonic fell to his knees and Wario kicked his thigh. That was going to leave a bruise…**

"**Why are you doing this? Stop it!" Sonic tried to block some of Wario's throws, but now his reflexes weren't fast enough. **

**Wario was hitting Sonic repeatedly and he used his nails to cut Sonic. He got a major hit on Sonic's chest, leaving a two inch long gash. Blood ran down Sonic's chest, staining his fur. Both of them were getting louder. **

"**Everyone will know tomorrow that something's up. How will you disguise this?" Sonic yelled between blows.**

"**If you really want to keep your powers, you'll make up a story to explain for your wounds!" Wario shouted, and he grabbed Sonic by his quills and pulled him to his feet. Wario kicked both of Sonic's shins before pushing him. Sonic was only shoved about a foot but was unable to keep his footing and slipped; now he was lying on his stomach. **

**Wario followed Sonic and got on his knees, pounding Sonic's back with his fists and calling him filthy names, "Whore, slut, fucker…" **

**With no powers, Sonic couldn't even harden his quills for defense. Sonic covered his head with his hands and tried to block his ears from hearing any more insults. Wario's voice got louder and angrier. **

"**YOU WANT THIS TO STOP, SONIC? HUH?" **

"**Yes…" Sonic whined. Was Wario trying to kill him?**

"**DO YOU WANT ME TO FUCK YOU, SONIC?" **

"**Yes…" **

"**WELL, SAY IT!" **

"**Fuck me, Wario. I deserve it." Sonic inwardly slapped himself for saying it. **

"**YOU'RE GOING TO BE A COMPLETELY FUCKED HEDGEHOG WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU TONIGHT!" Wario grabbed Sonic's quills again and brought Sonic to his knees, and when Sonic tried to twist his head out of Wario's grasp he hit Sonic hard in his left eye. Sonic folded over and covered his eye, and Wario, pleased with himself, looked up and saw that the room was a lighter shade than normal, "Damn it!" **

"**What?" Sonic whimpered, looking at the ground. **

"**I hit the wrong button. This shield blocks sound alright, but it directs it faintly to another position nearby. It's used to confuse your foes, but for now…another Brawler may have heard us." **

**Wario's grip on Sonic's quills loosened a little while he snapped the anklet off Sonic in order to fix the shield and Sonic took the time to quickly break away. Wario forgot to lock the door this time and Sonic opened it and ran down the stairs. The shield would only cover a small area, and if Wario called out now someone was sure to hear him. **

**Sonic felt like he was on fire when he made it downstairs. He decided to wait in the main entertainment room for Wario, or maybe someone else to find him. Sonic took a seat on a bench in front of one of the windows and rested his arms on the sill. His body would be covered with bruises in the morning, and now he needed to think of a way to hide them, **_**"I could say I was hurt while training with a level nine…yeah, that should work." **_

"**Sonic, what are you doing down here?" **

**Sonic turned towards the voice, and then remembered he must be getting a black eye from that last punch. Sonic flinched at the thought and turned back to face the window.**

"**Oh!" Pit walked up to Sonic but remained standing, "What happened?"**

**It took a lot of self control to keep Sonic from sounding pathetic, "Nothing." **

"**You're hurt. That's not simply 'nothing'." **

"_**How am I going to explain this now? Pit wouldn't believe me if I said I was training at this hour…" **_**"Just fell out of bed, that's all." **_**"Wow, that's a stupid excuse. Damn pressure." **_

"**What did you fall on, a rabid dog? That's one major bruise on your face, and – jeez, that's a huge cut on your chest!" **

**Sonic put his hand over the slash in order to staunch the flow of blood, "I'm fine, damn it. Go away." **

"**You're lying. Admit it. You have too many cuts and bruises to say you're ok." **

"**I just fell out of bed, was dizzy and managed to hurt myself on my side table. The corner cut me and I slipped and hit my eye. I probably injured myself even more on the way down here. Don't laugh," Sonic said quietly. Luckily his voice betrayed no emotions. **

**Pit sighed softly and then said, "At least let me treat your wounds. I'm a captain and I know how to heal." **

**Sonic didn't say anything at first, but then decided it would be best to get treated now and nodded. Pit led him to one of the healing rooms, picked him up and seated him on the counter. Sonic pressed an ice pack Pit handed him against his hurt eye, and then Pit began washing his wounds and bandaging them. Pit frowned slightly as he took care of the hurt hedgehog, and Sonic could tell Pit knew he was lying. Pit didn't say anything about it, and neither did Sonic. If he stuck with the lie, the angel would never know. **

**After Pit was finished, Sonic set the ice pack down and slipped off of the counter, "It's late, Pit. We should both go to sleep." **

**Pit shook his head, "Sonic, I'm not some air-headed angel. Don't give me some bull about being dizzy. Somebody deliberately did this to you, but who? Just tell me and I'll go to Master Hand myself, or beat them up, or some combination of the two, if you don't want to. But I can't just let this pass off as nothing." **

"_**Damn it, this one time I wish Pit was an idiot…or that he wouldn't care and just drag me to Master Hand…"**_** "It's really no big deal, Pit. I'll be ok. There's no reason to tell anyone. I don't need help."**

**Pit's hands dropped to his sides in defeat, "Fine, don't tell me. I'll give you the benefit of doubt this one time. But if this happens again I'm taking it to the damn press." Sonic didn't reply but inwardly he was half grateful Pit wouldn't tell anyone and half upset that he wouldn't push any further. **

**Pit began to leave, but he paused, looked back and said, "One last question, Sonic…who are you actually trying to convince: me, or yourself?" Sonic couldn't respond to that, and after Pit left he realized the irony of his last sentence to Pit: if you took the opposite of everything in the sentence, you had the truth. **

**Sonic started up the stairs again, shaking. He wouldn't be able to wait an entire day wondering what Wario was going to do to him, so he might as well get it over with…**

**Sonic opened his door and the room was the 'correct' color again. Wario must have shut the door while he worked on the shield. Wario was sitting on the edge of the bed and he grinned when Sonic came into the room. **

"**So, just trying to take care of your injuries, huh? It's a good thing you're back…now get over here and on your knees." Sonic slipped into the room, walked to Wario, and unwillingly got on his knees. **

**Wario moved off to the side and got off the bed in order to shut and lock the door. He walked behind Sonic and bent down to put the anklet on him, and at the same time he took Sonic's right ankle in his hand and twisted it. The pain brought tears to Sonic's eyes, although he didn't let a single one spill.**

"**That'll keep you from running off again…" Wario moved his hands up to Sonic's rear and squeezed, "We're going to have fun tonight, Sonic." **

**Sonic shivered, but stood up and climbed onto the bed. After going through the standard sex routine, Wario added another coat of lubricant to Sonic's entrance. **

"**What are you doing now?" Sonic whispered. **

"**Disobedience gives me a reason to fuck you a little more…" Wario entered Sonic again. **

**Sonic clenched up whenever Wario hit a sore area, but he accepted the penetration like any other time. **

**Wario looked at Sonic and said, "Ah yes, you speedy slut, you like this, don't you?** **Do you know why this is happening again, Sonic? It's your entire fault. If you were different, then I wouldn't be doing this. Your attitude, your lifestyle…it's because of whom you are you need to be punished. You're mine now. You'll never get away from this as long as you're here. You only have yourself to blame, Sonic. You only have yourself to blame." **

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic woke up trembling in fear. That was one of the worst nights. Sonic thought about the last part of the nightmare.

"_Maybe it is my fault that he's doing this to me…if I wasn't a third party character, he would have left me alone, right? I also was cocky towards him…maybe that's why he hates me? What could I have done differently? Or what could I have changed about me? I've been so confused ever since this has begun. I don't really know why he's doing this to me; he always changes his reason, and now I'm not sure if I'm bisexual or heterosexual…and I don't understand why I can't deal with this in a healthy way like I usually do. I'm hurting myself…I'm just trapped…" _

There was a small knock on the door, "Sonic, are you awake?"

"Master Hand?" Sonic called softly.

Master Hand floated into the room as Sonic lifted himself up on his elbows.

"Sonic, I really need to talk with you."

"I'm sure the good doctor has already told you everything."

"Yes, but I need to hear your account. Sonic, are you being sexually abused?"

"Why is it that everyone who interviews me goes down the path of sex?"

"Because nobody wants you to be hurt, least of all in that way…for crying out loud, you're sixteen. Rape is horrible for anyone, but it just seems worse if you're that young." Master Hand began stroking Sonic's head like Sonic was a kitten, "I don't want you be afraid here. I made this place so many fighters could come together to compete, and I want them all to be safe, happy and healthy. Right now you're none of those things. You're hurting and yet you keep pushing everyone away. Sonic, please tell me what's wrong. I'll protect you from the others. Don't go through this alone anymore."

"_I want to tell, but I can't. You haven't protected me this far, and I doubt you can now. I can take care of this myself. Besides, if Wario finds out, at some point he'll get me alone and I'll lose my powers. I'll find a way to cope." _

"Master Hand…" Sonic said quietly, "Can we just drop this?"

Master Hand stopped petting Sonic and his voice quieted as well, "What?"

"I want to forget about this. Can't we just leave everything lying and move on?"

"This isn't going to stop if I let it go. I know that I can be a scatterbrain and unobservant sometimes, but now that I'm aware of what's happening I'm not going to stand by and watch you slowly fall apart."

"I won't…I'll eat tonight. I promise."

"That's not going to stop the abuse –"

Sonic could feel anger rising up inside. He was mad because they believed he wasn't strong enough to handle abuse and that he was being abused in the first place. He was just sick and tired of pretending and holding back his emotions. His hatred of both himself and Wario was overwhelming; he had to release it onto someone.

"For the last time, I'm NOT being abused! Stop talking about it!"

"Sonic…"

"JUST SHUT UP! YOU HEAR ME? JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Sonic got off the bed and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Master Hand followed Sonic and just before the back door he grabbed Sonic's arm, "Hold on, Sonic! Please…"

"LET GO OF ME!" Sonic struggled against Master Hand and was beginning to pull his arm free because Master Hand was afraid of holding on too tightly.

"Sonic, you aren't thinking clearly! Listen, I'm trying to help you!"

Sonic stopped struggling for a bit, and his words came out harsh, "You can't help me and you can't control me. I can go fucking kill myself if I want." Sonic's eyes had turned dark and angry, "There's nothing you can do for me now. Let go of me. I _hate_ you."

Master Hand was so shocked he let go of Sonic, and Sonic took that moment to get away. He opened the back door and took off at top speed across the lawn.

"Sonic!" Even though he was so weak, Sonic was gone in a flash.

XXXXXXXXX

Mario and Peach were shoving some leaves to the side when Mario stepped in something. It was like a strange, purple-black goop, "Hey Peach, check this out!"

Peach walked over, "What is that?"

"I don't know…" Mario poked it with a stick, "But I haven't seen it anywhere else around here…"

"Hm, a freak storm and then squishy stuff…" Peach was about to grab a handful when she felt a strong breeze right beside her.

"What was that?" Peach asked.

"You mean 'who was that'. It was Sonic!"

"Sonic! But he's so thin…what the heck is he doing?"

"With so much work to do, if he's strong enough to run he's strong enough to help…hey, what's with Master Hand?"

Peach turned her head to see the hand floating in a daze.

The two Brawlers looked at each other and then hurried over to Master Hand calling, "Where's he headed? What's going on?"

Master Hand couldn't do anything except stay floating in complete shock at Sonic's reaction. Finally, he whispered, "Eventually, even the most kind-hearted person will turn cold. That's when you can tell that they have been pushed too far."


	14. Run and Hide

Sonic didn't know where he was running. He just ran to get away from what was happening to him. He couldn't face anyone at the Smasher's Base right now. He had to be anywhere but there…

Eventually Sonic found himself in a forest. It could possibly be near the Base, or maybe it was on the other side of the world; Sonic was moving so quickly he didn't pay attention to where he was going. Regardless, it would be hours before somebody found him, and even if they did he could easily outrun them. He was safe, for now.

Sonic's limbs were aching from malnutrition. What he used to find the simplest activities he couldn't do any longer without getting tired. He always needed to rest now, but he never had the chance, even if he was on his bed –

The hedgehog shook his head back and forth, trying to get rid of the thought. He leaned against a tree for a moment to catch his breath; the bark slightly damp. A soft drizzle was falling, and the ground was going soft and clinging to Sonic's shoes whenever he took a step.

"Hasn't there been enough rain already?" Sonic muttered while walking. He spotted a small pool of water after about five minutes. Walking over, he saw the water was clear, so he took a long drink to quench his thirst. Afterwards he sat back against another tree and tried to figure out his thoughts.

"_Just because my games were made by a different company than everyone else's doesn't make me bad, does it? I was put into another company's game and invited along for the real deal, but still…" _Sonic leaned forward and looked into the water. Instead of seeing the usual optimistic, hyper and fearless hedgehog as before, the face staring back at him wasn't his own. It was thin, upset and afraid, and had the shadows of multiple bruises on it. No wonder Master Hand was worried; this was the complete opposite. He should have done a better job of faking normality. Sonic dropped a pebble into the pool and sent ripples along its surface, distorting the already deformed image.

"_What am I going to do now? I can't just come back and act like nothing ever happened." _Sonic leaned against the tree again, and he began talking to himself just to hear something other than the drizzling rain, "All I have is questions, but no answers. Why did Wario rape me? I can't think of anything I did to him that was horrible enough for him to do these things." He closed his eyes and kept speaking, "Also, I can't seem to handle this normally…before this whole thing happened I've always been able to control myself, but today I told Master Hand I hated him, although I don't. He's trying to help me, and I just yelled at him. Why did I snap like that? What's he going to do to me when I get back…?"

That thought led Sonic to a worse one, _"More importantly, what is Wario going to do to me when I return? Will he make me lick semen from my own hands again, or will he stick his fingers into my entrance and toy with me that way once more? Oh no…" _Sonic opened his eyes, drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself, feeling the need to try to protect his body.

"I can't go on like this," Sonic whispered, "I need a better way to cope. I can blank out my mind when it's going on, but I can't do that during the day. Master Hand is already suspicious, and shouting probably didn't help matters. There are also the other Brawlers …I wonder if they know more than they're letting on. At least a dozen of them have already come up to me, asking if there was anything they could do to help…"

Sonic stared at the branches above him, "There's got to be a way to get both everyone off of my back and help me through this. I can only deny everything for so long…" Sonic looked down at his feet, and wiggled them back and forth, "What have I done that has worked…"

It was a light bulb moment. Sonic uncurled and actually smiled, "Of course; during the storm I put all of my emotions away; simply locked them up. Then I helped out and felt useful…that's all I have to do. Push my emotions about this to the side and keep myself busy. If I help out, I won't have time to think about what's happening, and everyone will believe I'm ok because I'm acting normal again. It might take me some time to learn to keep all of these emotions inside, but if I've taught myself to blank out my mind, I can learn this. Now, I just need an excuse for my behavior before…"

Even after a few minutes of thinking, Sonic had come up with nothing. His main idea was that there was something going on at home that had been worrying him, and when he ran off he went home to check on it, and seeing everything was ok again he was alright. Of course, the one problem with that story was that he didn't have one of the portal pendants with him, and if anyone asked to see it, he would be in trouble. Without a pendant, he couldn't use the portals on this world to go anywhere or return from somewhere. It was a safety precaution so there wouldn't be any unwanted guests, so the only ones who held pendants all of the time were the Hands, the Brawlers themselves and the Brawlers' contacts.

Wario had taken Sonic's pendant and destroyed his phone and laptop the night he had called Tails, so he had no way of getting in touch with his friends now. Unless he decided to write a letter or something, but there was no way he could deliver it without being caught. Even though the portals were only about ten miles or so from the Base, with his luck so far he would never make it there and back before Wario noticed. Damned Wario had thought of everything; Sonic never knew he was this smart!

"Basically Wario's left me with only a few options…I could endure the abuse, leave Smash Bros., lose my powers, or die." Sonic smiled sadly when he thought of the final option, "What a wonderful choice that would be…" The hedgehog slowly curled up underneath the tree, "Whatever happens to me later, I won't do that. I won't kill myself." He was trying to deny it, but a very, very small part of him inside was whispering softly that death was truly the only way to escape.

XXXXXXXXX

It was completely dark when Sonic awoke again. This time he had no dreams, so he was actually rested. Sonic doubted that Master Hand hadn't sent a search party out; they probably just hadn't found him yet. He wasn't ready to be discovered, so he got up to continue moving into the woods.

The stars provided little light when traveling through the thick grove and Sonic kept nearly walking into things. The rain may have stopped, but the branches overhead dripped water down, and the chill made Sonic flinch every time a droplet hit him. He held his hands out in front of him and stepped carefully, and to pass the time made a little game of guessing what he was actually touching.

"_Tree, tree, tree, bush, rock, tree, tree, wall…wall?" _Sonic placed both of his hands on the object and rubbed up and down, but there was no denying it; it was a wooden wall.

"_Who built a barrier out here, and why?" _Sonic moved placed his right hand on the structure and began walking to the left. He only walked a few steps before reaching the corner.

"_Maybe it's a house or something…" _Sonic walked around to the front and was surprised to see a soft glow coming from inside the cabin. There was only one window with a candle in it, and a shut wooden door. The rest of the building seemed to be made of solid wood.

Sonic could easily see the door, and he walked up to it and knocked, "Hello; is anybody home?" The light from the candle suddenly went out, and a breeze rushed past Sonic as the door opened with a creak. The room was now dark, and smelled slightly musky.

"Am I in a cheesy horror movie or something? Please…" Facing Wario and Master Hand back at the Base was much worse than being attacked by some stupid ghost. Sonic walked in, knowing already that the door would shut and lock behind him. It did.

"Ok, so what's next; objects flying around the room, or possibly a spooky message being written on the wall? I'm sooooo scared…" Sonic walked to the back of the room while he spoke sarcastically, and then turned around to scan the area. Wraiths were nothing compared to Wario.

There was no response this time. The small room had changed from being warm and cozy to dark and frightening. The window was cracked, and the door had multiple scratches in it, like it had been clawed by some wild animal. The floorboards were either scuffed or broken, and there was a huge hole in the floor, big enough for someone to fall into. A few pieces of broken furniture were placed at random throughout the room, all covered with a thick layer of dust. It seemed that nobody had lived here in a long time.

"Look, if you're not going to try and scare me or attack me, do you mind letting me go? I've got things to do…"

"Could you help me?" Sonic looked to his left to see a little girl, only about five or six years old standing there. Her face, sweater and jeans were covered in a blackish sludge. Her lower lip was quivering, and her eyes were shiny with tears, "Are you one of them?"

"What are 'them'?" Sonic asked. Poor kid must be dead.

"The squishy things; when you hit them they go squish-squish." The girl walked closer and tried to slap Sonic. Her hand went right through him, "No, you're not a squishy thing. So could you help me?"

"I can try. What do you want me to do?"

"My friend said I would be safe from the squishy things here. The doctors had been following him for some time. They kept hurting people he liked, and he said I was the last one. So he put me here, and went to go find the bad people and get rid of them. But he's been gone for a long time. I want to go find him, but I can't, 'cause he told me not to leave. Will you? Will you try?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"But you can't stop them alone!" The child was sobbing now, and wiping her short brown hair away from her eyes, "There are so many of them!"

"It's ok; I have friends that will help." Oh sure; how many Brawlers would believe him if he said that a little girl died in a cabin out in one of the forests and wanted help? As far as he knew, the Base was the only place on this world! If they ever needed something, there were portals to go through, and the power lines and pipes were attached to the portals. Even the weather broadcast for this world was sent from another place. Sonic was sure there wasn't anywhere else to get supplies, so how could there be a house out here?

"But your friends aren't here now, and they're coming! They want both of us!" The girl was shaking and bawling.

"Why would they want both of us?" Sonic asked softly, trying to comfort her. He quickly glanced at the window, but saw nothing outside.

"They want me because I'm his friend," the girl stopped crying for a moment, and looked up at Sonic. Her once soft brown eyes had turned pitch black, "And they want you because you're his enemy." The girl let out a laugh, but it seemed fitting to an old man, not a small child.

"What the fuck?" Sonic backed away from the child, his eyes flickering from her to the door. Once he reached it, he tried the knob again, still facing the girl. It was still locked, so he brought his foot around and kicked it hard. The door flew open, and Sonic ran out into the night. He looked back and forth, but saw nothing. Maybe he had imagined the entire thing?

Sonic dug his heels into the soft ground and came to a stop. He switched directions and ran back to where the house should have been. This time there wasn't anything, only an empty, muddy clearing. He circled around it, but saw nothing. At first Sonic thought he was simply going insane, but then the starlight hit a small, shiny object. Picking it up, Sonic realized it was one of those little necklaces that held a picture. It was dull silver from age, covered in mud, and the clasp to the locket was broken. Sonic tried to pry it open to see what was inside, but he couldn't do it. This would require a locksmith, or maybe just a sharp knife.

Sonic was puzzled for a few moments, and then slipped the locket into his glove. As soon as he had done so, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

The hedgehog let out a yelp and dashed away from whatever touched him. He turned around to see who grabbed him, and a few meters away stood a confused canine.

"What the hell was that for, Fox? You scared the life out of me!" Sonic was smiling now, close to laughing at his experience.

"Didn't you hear me? I said – oh, never mind." Fox walked over to Sonic and grabbed his hand, "Whatever; you're not running off now. Do you have any idea how much worry you've caused us? We've been looking for you for hours." Fox looked at his wrist for a moment, presumably at a map, and then began to drag Sonic away from the clearing.

Sonic silently hoped Fox didn't suspect abuse, and that he would believe his normality. He simply shrugged and said, "So? I run off every once in awhile."

"But this is different…" Fox shook his head, stopped and then activated his communicator, "Falco, it's me. I've found Sonic and he's alright. Do you mind picking us up?"

"What a relief! I sure can; I've got your position. I'm on my way, but it will take some time."

"Thanks, and no worries; we can wait." Fox switched it off and then muttered, "For some reason that totally slipped my mind…"

"What's the big deal?"

"You said to Master Hand you planned on committing suicide. We were afraid we'd find your corpse somewhere." Fox picked Sonic up and gave him a hug, "I'm so relieved you didn't do it."

"What? I didn't say that!" Sonic struggled a bit away so he was able to look at Fox.

Fox shifted Sonic slightly so he was carrying the hedgehog on his hip and continued walking, "You yelled at him, at least. Master Hand was panicking when he called us all in, and he said you became angry and wanted to die before disappearing on us."

"I was furious, but I don't remember saying that. Did I?" Sonic thought back to the conversation, but he couldn't recall what he had said. The only line he could remember was, 'I hate you.' Did he say he was going to kill himself?

"What were you so mad about?" Fox asked.

"I don't know. At least, I don't remember." Sonic shrugged.

Fox gave Sonic a strange look, but just set him down and began leading him out of the forest. It took only ten minutes for the pair to find their way out. Fox let go of Sonic's hand and sat down under a tree, "We might as well relax; Falco could be a few minutes."

Sonic took a seat beside him, and his stomach let out a growl. Fox looked at him, and then reached into his pocket and handed him a granola bar, "It's not much, but it's all I have right now. I was holding it when Master Hand called us all together, and forgot to put it back."

"Lucky me," Sonic said as he unwrapped the granola bar and began eating. To Sonic's surprise, he was able to swallow every bite. After a few days Sonic's body stopped protesting to the lack of food and just kind of whimpered softly, like it was pleading with him to take care of it, even though it knew it wasn't going to happen. Now that his stomach was getting filled, it was telling him never to starve again. He was absolutely ravenous.

"So why did you run off today?" Fox asked after Sonic had taken a few bites.

Sonic swallowed the mouthful and then replied, "I don't know. I just recall being angry at Master Hand for some reason, and then I just had to get away, just go somewhere…" Sonic sighed, "I know I'm thin and all, but he's treating me like a little kid and it drives me crazy."

"Don't take it personally; he's like a mother hen to everyone, but pays special attention to the younger fighters. Did Ness ever tell you the story of when he first came?"

"Nope; why, what happened?"

"Well, Ness is only a few years younger than you, right? Anyways, when he was invited to the first round, a bunch of people made a huge freaking deal about Ness being so young against all of these older fighters, even though he's tough and wanted to be there. The Hands had to fight hard to have Ness stay, and people are still criticizing Master Hand and Crazy Hand about having such young Brawlers. Ever since then, the Hands work harder on making sure the young Smashers are happy so fighters aren't banned from entering due to their age. Not to mention the fact that you guys are still growing and need the extra attention to your health."

"Sixteen isn't that young…" Sonic muttered, finishing off his snack.

"Young enough to make people think you shouldn't be here because of your age."

Sonic nearly spat out the food from shock, "What? I can run faster than the speed of sound; I've saved my galaxy and my planet a million times over from all sorts of evil wanting to kill me and my friends, and have been injured so often that the hospital jokes about having it named after me! Seriously; people are worried about me being hurt in a controlled environment when brawling with friends?" Sonic couldn't help it; he burst out laughing.

Fox stared at Sonic's reaction, and then he started laughing as well. Both of them were still snickering when Falco landed his Arwing in front of them.

"Did I miss something?" Falco asked, confused.

"No, not really; let's just return to the Base," Fox replied. Sonic grinned and hopped onto the wing with Fox for the ride back.


	15. Pills and a Puzzle

Master Hand was caught between hugging Sonic in relief and scolding him for running off. It took some time for Sonic to explain to Master Hand that he was never suicidal and didn't hate him; he had just been frustrated, and finally convinced Sonic would be ok Master Hand sent him off to eat a late dinner.

Fox quickly explained what had happened, and Master Hand sighed in contentment. For now, he could rest easy. The arena and phone lines would be repaired in a few days, and all of the Brawlers were back, safe and sound. After directing everyone to bed, Master Hand waved for Pit, Link, Meta Knight and Kirby to follow him into his office.

"There's been a lot of late-night activity going around here recently…well, Fox said that Sonic was just wandering around and he was alright, but I've never seen him act so upset before. I'm wondering about this abuse idea of yours, and if it could be true…"

"Someone _is_ abusing Sonic. We called Tails and he played a recording of a call for us in which Sonic admitted to being abused," Link replied.

"What! Why didn't you guys tell me?" Master Hand leaned over his desk towards the four of them.

"Well, we actually were planning on having Tails send the recording over because you need proof to get Sonic more help; but it was too late because the phone lines were destroyed that night. Also, we haven't talked to Sonic about it because we think the reason he may have been beaten was because he told Tails about the abuse," Pit replied.

"Did you get the name of the fighter? No, of course you guys didn't…" Master Hand sighed, "Alright, I'm going to tell you something, and it's very important you keep it between the five of us. Got it?" The four Brawlers nodded. "Very well…the psychiatrist thinks that the reason for Sonic's behavior is because he's not being simply abused; he's being sexually abused."

"What? Somebody here is doing…" Kirby shuddered at the thought.

"It's why I'm so concerned about Sonic now…being hit by another is something I could easily see Sonic taking, but if he's been raped…that'll just break him. There's so many things we don't know; like who's hurting him, when they do it and how long they've been doing it for…but my biggest question, as is yours I'm guessing, is why. Why would anybody go to such lengths to hurt Sonic? What's motivating them?"

"They must really, really hate him to want him hurting this badly…" Meta Knight went quiet, thinking.

"But nobody has been acting cruel enough towards Sonic in order to _rape_ him…" Pit said, "Have they?"

"Everyone seems concerned, but at least one person is lying…and Sonic isn't saying anything either," Master Hand replied.

"That's another thing we don't know – why won't he tell anyone? What could you threaten someone with that's worse than being raped?" Link asked, but no one responded. Nobody had an answer.

XXXXXXXXX

"Don't eat so fast, Sonic, or you'll be sick again," Crazy Hand said as he placed another bowl of soup in front of the hedgehog.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Sonic pushed his empty bowl off to the side and began on his third. For being close to a mad scientist, Crazy Hand was surprisingly a good cook.

"Well, at least he's eating." Master Hand floated up beside Crazy.

"Still, too much food in his system and he'll be ill…this should be his last plate for tonight." Crazy Hand began to clear the dishes.

"Ok, ok…I'll eat tomorrow as well, you know," Sonic said as he swallowed the last spoonful.

"It's a start, at least…"

"I'll be fine, Master Hand. Give me some credit here."

"Sonic, I know you may hate me for doing this, but it's for the best…" Master Hand put a plastic bottle containing pills down on the table.

"What's this?" Sonic picked up the pills and rattled them.

"They're antidepressants. I ordered them from Dr. Nam this afternoon."

"I don't need them." Sonic pushed the vial away.

"Don't you have any idea how frightened I was today? Your emotions are getting unpredictable and it has me and others worried. Even Crazy is concerned; actually he was the one who suggested this idea."

"Whatever. If I don't want to take them I don't have to." Sonic looked at the pills.

"Sonic, please take them. I'm thinking only of you here."

Sonic looked at Master Hand, and he could tell that the Hand was worried, even with no eyes to look at. Sonic sighed, "Alright, I'll take the drugs, but for how long?"

"Just finish this one dose and then we'll see."

"Ok then…" Sonic opened the bottle and took a small orange pill out. He put it into his mouth, grabbed a glass of water, drank and then swallowed.

"Good…it's only one a day and no Brawlers know about the antidepressants. Crazy and I won't say anything."

"Sure…" Sonic placed the cap back on, "I'm going to bed. 'Night, Master Hand."

"Goodnight, Sonic." Master Hand relaxed a little more when Sonic carried the bottle out with him.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic looked at the medication as he walked upstairs. He could always throw them away and say he was taking them…but Master Hand was afraid. Fine, he'd take the damn pills, even if they probably wouldn't do anything for him.

Sonic had just enough time to completely hide the bottle in his hand before someone pulled him to the side of the hall, "Sonic, are you ok? You haven't been acting normal lately." Pit had followed Sonic upstairs after he had left the dining room in order to talk to him alone.

"I'm fine…I'm just tired now, ok? Maybe we can speak tomorrow?" Sonic began heading to his room again, and Pit followed.

"Is that a lie or a promise?" the angel asked.

"It's a promise."

"Well…alright then. How about we speak tomorrow after breakfast?"

"I'm not sure; maybe." They were at his bedroom now, "I may sleep through that; I feel like I could sleep for a thousand years."

Pit smiled slightly, "Get some rest then, ok? Sleep tight, Sonic."

"Goodnight to you too, Pit." Sonic opened his door and walked into the room, and while it was open the angel looked inside. There was nobody in the room, unless they were hiding under Sonic's bed, but Pit couldn't check before the door was shut. There was nobody in there as far as the angel could see, so he left.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic leaned against the door, looking at Wario who was sitting on his bed. He looked up and said, "You took your time getting here tonight." The cuff went back around Sonic's ankle.

"Shut the hell up, Wario…I'm doing what you fucking want already."

"What language, Sonic. You're getting close to telling. Do you need to be punished again?"

"I didn't say a word, damn it. Just hurry it up tonight, will you? I want to go to sleep."

"You're impatient…" Wario patted the spot beside him, and Sonic sat down. He waited for Wario to lock the door and activate the sound shield. He leaned on his empty hand, and his palm then noticed something cool and metal…right, the locket! The girl had said that he was somebody's enemy, but the only person that could possibly fit…

"Hey Wario, would you know anything about a house in a woods here?" Sonic asked.

Wario looked at the hedgehog, and Sonic saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. "I might," Wario said as he began to rub Sonic between his legs, "Why do you ask?"

"I saw something strange tonight is all. It could have been an illusion, I guess."

Wario stopped to remove his glove before putting the hand back to work. After about a minute he said, "I'd like to hear about this." Wario stopped his movements and instead applied pressure to Sonic's groin, "So go on and tell me."

"Why would you even care?" Sonic asked, shuddering at the warmth now present. He hated feeling pleasure from this even more than pain, and Wario knew that. He just touched Sonic this way to make him squirm.

"None of your business; however we'll skip oral sex tonight if you speak." Wario slipped his hand underneath his victim and traced around the entrance, "So let's hear it."

Sonic was about to ask why again, but then Wario's index finger slipped inside, making him gasp. Wario kept thrusting the digit into Sonic as he told the story, preparing the hedgehog for what was to come.

"Well then, I want to see where you met this ghostly girl. You'll take me there tomorrow, now won't you?" Wario pulled out of Sonic and wiped his finger on the bedspread.

"I don't know where it exactly is. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"You'll be able to find it again; you're quick. As soon as you do you come back here to fetch me, and we'll check it out together. When shall you start your search?"

"I'll go straight after breakfast. But what if I can't find it?" Sonic whispered. He wasn't sure if he could get back to the same place again, and if he couldn't…

"No penalties occur if you try and fail, but if you refuse, I shall punish you. Sounds fair?"

"Well, alright…" _"At least this way I'll get out of speaking with Pit."_

"Good. Flip over, Sonic. I want to try something new with you tonight…" Sonic rolled onto his stomach and hid the pills for now in the spot between his headboard and the mattress.

"Get ready, hedgehog…" Sonic began breathing deeply while Wario applied the lubricant, trying to brace himself for what was inevitably coming.

When the first major penetration occurred, it always hurt. Sonic pressed his head into the pillow and his hands gripped the edge of the mattress. Once the thrusting became less painful, Sonic put his plan into action.

Every emotion that was attached to the abuse, Sonic put into a box and locked up. Soon, there was nothing, and the abuse did not seem real. Sonic inwardly smiled. This way of coping worked.

Now Sonic's problem no longer existed.

_**Now this was kind of late, but for a good reason: I got MarioKart for the Wii this weekend and have spent all of my time on that. I also played Brawl a lot as well. Obviously I need to game instead of updating! **_

…

_**Yeah…I promise I won't be late for that reason again… **_

_**Oh, and I also added spontaneous chapter titles! Yay!**_


	16. Darker Ambitions

"I told you that you'd find it," Wario said when he arrived at the clearing. Straight after breakfast Sonic took off, and to his surprise he actually did locate the place again, and it only took him about twenty minutes. After going back to tell Wario and getting more instructions, he ran back to the clearing and Wario teleported to his location using the cuff. That anklet had everything!

"Well, here it is. Knock yourself out." Sonic slumped underneath a tree, tired.

Wario walked around the clearing, looking intently at the area. Sonic thought to himself, _"Why does Wario care so much about a ghost in a haunted house? I've never heard of it before yesterday, and I've never heard anyone talk about a ghost here before, including Wario. Why the sudden interest in spirits?" _

"Fuck," Wario cursed after a few minutes, "Nothing." He turned to Sonic, "Did this girl give you anything, or did you find some sort of relic after coming back?"

"_I think I'll keep the locket. I want to know Wario's motives first…" _"Sorry, but I don't have anything. I never bothered to pay attention to details after the house was gone."

"Fuck…" Wario snarled. He turned back again and scanned the clearing.

"Why do you care anyways? It's no big deal, and I have no clue what anything she said meant, especially about the 'squishy things'." Sonic noticed Wario flinched when said the last part. "Hey, do you know what these squishes are?"

"I already told you it's none of your business!" Wario snapped at Sonic without looking at him.

"I'm not accepting that for an answer."

"Maybe you'll accept this, then?" Wario walked over to Sonic and snapped the anklet on him, "Turn around, hedgehog."

"What are you doing? You're going to…uh…bang me…out _here_?" Sonic gasped, "But what if…"

"They won't find us, stupid! I've told you a hundred times that this whole deal doesn't matter to you, and you won't listen. On your hands and knees, damn it!"

"Well, why does the ghost matter to _you_?" Sonic was becoming extremely curious because Wario was avoiding the subject. He crossed his arms and refused to turn around.

Wario looked down at the ground, his shoulders shaking. After a few moments he looked up and grabbed the hedgehog's hips. He flipped Sonic around so he was facing the tree, and his grip on Sonic's sides tightened.

"Ouch! Wario, stop that!"

"Just shut up and take your punishment!"

Sonic shuddered slightly but obeyed Wario, making sure he had a good grip on the ground so he wouldn't be shoved into the tree trunk. There was no point now in telling Wario about the locket; if he did, he would be in even more trouble. Wario grasped Sonic's quills in order to be able to slam deeper into his sex slave. Sonic was given basically no time to prepare, but because this was happening every day his muscles were more used to stretching quickly, and he didn't bleed as often now.

Sonic shut his eyes and walled himself off, and he began to plan what to do with the rest of the day.

XXXXXXXXX

Wario had left Sonic's poor, battered body underneath the tree all alone. Slowly the hurt hedgehog let himself acknowledge the world again, and he stood up, ignoring the stabbing pains coming from his backside. He grabbed a few damp leaves and wiped most of the semen off of his lower half, mentally reminding himself to slip upstairs for a shower and the cream as soon as he arrived back at the Base.

He was about to leave, thinking Wario had already gone ahead, but he heard a bit of mumbling coming from further along. Sonic crept closer towards the noise, being careful to make sure he wouldn't step on a twig or something and give himself away.

Just a little ways ahead, sitting on a fallen tree was Wario. He was sniffling, like he had cried for a long time. Sonic stepped behind a tree and watched Wario from the hiding place. Luckily Wario had his back turned to Sonic.

"Shania, oh why did this have to happen…why…" Wario took a deep breath, and his shoulders shook with silent tears.

Sonic slowly took a few steps back, and once he was far enough away he turned around and ran. Maybe Shania was the name of the girl, and maybe Wario knew her. Maybe he failed to save her…maybe he was angry he had lost her…maybe he wanted revenge but couldn't get it…

There were a ton of possibilities floating around in Sonic's head, but only one was almost definite to him. He was using pills, while Wario was using him.

Maybe Sonic wasn't the only one using an alternative method for coping.

XXXXXXXXX

_The next day…_

"I tried all damn day yesterday and this morning to get Sonic to talk to me and he won't stay still!" Pit crossed his arms in frustration as he ranted to Kirby, "He's always busy, whether it's running or practicing with someone for when the arena reopens or just napping because he's still weak. This is crazy! Does he ever relax while awake anymore?"

"You have to admit though; he does look pretty happy right now, doesn't he?" Kirby whispered back. Although Pit did have a point; Sonic had skipped out on the first meeting the angel had planned with him yesterday and all of the other times the four Brawlers wanted to talk. Sonic now avoided being alone with the four of them and was always doing some sort of activity.

"He does," Pit sighed, "Do you think he's still being abused?"

"I'd think so…" Kirby looked up and shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun. The arena was almost complete again, and the phone lines would be up in just a couple of hours. Pit and Kirby were sitting on one of the benches around the fountain right in front of the main entrance. The stone Brawlers were well carved and looked pretty life-like.

"We'll be able to get the recording in a few days, but he won't talk to us. What do we do?"

"Well, duh! It's time to unleash the hounds! Let's kidnap him and force him to hear us speak." Kirby hopped off of the bench and walked towards the soccer field with determination, and Pit laughed softly before following.

It was a simple four-on-four soccer match, with Sonic, Mario, Ness and Lucas against Luigi, Ivysaur, Diddy Kong and Yoshi.

"Pass it!"

"Somebody stop him!"

"Go for it, Ness!"

Ness was able to kick the ball around Yoshi and scored.

"Nice!" Sonic ran to get the ball and came back into the field, for the goals had no nets in place, "Who's up for the face-off, then?"

"Hey Sonic, we've got a message for you!" Pit waved from the sidelines.

"Why didn't you just fetch me? Who was it from?" Sonic called back, still holding the ball.

"They were in a rush! Come on; let us give you the info without shouting!" Kirby motioned him over.

"Alright, I'm coming! I'll be back in a bit, everyone." Sonic dropped the soccer ball into center and in a second was standing in front of Pit, "What's up?"

"Let's go inside; I'm getting too warm and it's a long story." Kirby began walking towards the Base, and the other two followed. When they were a good distance from the game Pit picked Sonic up and began carrying him under one arm.

"Hey, what gives?" Sonic struggled against Pit, but the angel was strong. "Look, we're far enough now; just freaking tell me what the message was."

"There is no news; you're not the only one who lies." Pit continued walking and refused to put the hedgehog down.

"When was I ever lying?"

Pit and Kirby exchanged quick glances, and then Kirby replied, "You'll see what we mean in a moment."

Nobody was inside because it was such a beautiful day outside, with the sun shining bright and warm for once this week. Kirby and Pit took Sonic to Kirby's room, and once inside Kirby quickly made sure no one else was around before locking the door.

"Wow, this is going hard core for privacy…now what do you want?" Sonic asked before sitting down in one of Kirby's soft chairs.

"We have something really important we've been trying to talk to you about for the past while…" Pit took a deep breath, "Sonic, the day after you were beat up we were worried, so we called your friend Tails…and he played a shocking message for us. We know you're being abused by someone here; but we just don't know who. We've refrained from coming up to you about this directly because you seemed so scared about talking, but now it seems like a good time. Can you tell us who's hurting you?"

Fear flickered across Sonic's eyes for a moment before he regained his composure, "I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Sonic snapped, "Why did you make up such a ridiculous story?"

"You know it's the truth, and you admitted it to Tails. Please tell us. Tails is worried about you too." Kirby went up to Sonic and patted his hand.

Sonic flinched at the touch, but replied in the same annoyed tone, "I'm perfectly ok, you know. I was just having a few down days but I'm alright now. Nothing's up."

Pit's voice quieted a little, "Sonic, the truth is going to come out one way or another, because as soon as the phone lines are repaired we're having Tails send us the recording. That's the proof we need to expose who's hurting you, for as soon as it comes we have any resource at our hands: police, detectives, lawyers…and there won't be any boundaries on what they can and cannot do. However this can be over much sooner and without all of the drama if you just tell us. Nobody else is around here. You can hide until we catch your attacker." Truthfully, they would never call the police or get any authority another than secretive ones involved, because then Sonic's story would be shown everywhere in the universe. If Sonic was being raped, that kind of publicity would be the last thing he needed. But perhaps the threat of that would make Sonic spill…

Sonic began shaking slightly, _"Tails never knew why I wasn't telling anyone, and now Wario's going to find out that these two know…what am I going to do? I can't lie my way out of this! They know too much!" _He could feel his blocked emotions inside trying to claw their way out. _"No, hold yourself together Sonic! I'm not being abused, I'm not being raped, this is not real; it's not happening; this is all a dream!" _

"Sonic, it is ok. We're here for you. Don't worry…" Kirby gripped Sonic's hand, "It will be alright. Just tell us everything."

Sonic calmed himself down, looked at Kirby and replied, "How can I tell you everything when there's nothing to tell?"

XXXXXXXXX

Wario was cloaked outside of Kirby's bedroom door, using the cuff to stay invisible and hear into the conversation. He used the invisibility to get to Sonic's room every night, otherwise he would have been found out ages ago. He nodded when he heard Sonic's reply.

"_Good, so he's still keeping it a secret…but this recording is a problem. There isn't a very high chance I'll be able to snatch it before that angel and puffball get their hands on it." _Wario smirked as he pulled a small vial out of his pocket, _"It's time for drastic measures...I'll show these heroes that I mean business." _

XXXXXXXXX

Kirby and Pit tried for the next half hour to get Sonic to tell them, but he kept on denying everything they said. At noon, the lunch bell rang.

"Alright, let's eat and come back to this," Pit said, heading towards the door.

Sonic shakily followed the two down the stairs. They actually _knew_ that he was being abused. If he had misled everyone else, he hadn't fooled these two. How much longer before Wario found out? Would this be his last day with his super speed forever? _"This isn't fair; if I act abnormally they're concerned, and now if I act normal they don't believe me! What am I supposed to do?" _

At a table in the dining room, Pit and Kirby were talking with Link and Meta Knight. The latter two were shaking their heads sadly while the others explained, but when another Brawler walked by, they abruptly changed the conversation.

"_What if Pit and Kirby aren't the only ones who know? Are Meta Knight and Link in this as well? I guess so; otherwise they wouldn't have wanted to speak with me alone…" _Sonic filled his plate with food and decided to find a seat away from the four, but before he could do so Link walked up, grabbed another muffin and dragged Sonic to the empty seat at their table.

"Sonic, I swear on my goddess that the only Brawlers who know, other than the one hurting you, is the four of us," Pit whispered from his right, "We've been trying to figure this out from the start, and now it's time to end this."

Sonic said nothing, and kept eating while staring at the condiments and little marble statue in the center of the table. This statue showed five Brawlers like the other statues: Fox, Falco, Wolf, Samus and Captain Falcon.

"Are you listening to us? We're trying to help you!" Link poked Sonic's left side.

Meta Knight hissed at Sonic from across the table, "Seriously, what the hell is this guy blackmailing you with in order to keep you from telling? The four of us can easily take on one Brawler, and there will be nine times that number when the truth comes out. Why won't you say anything?"

"I forgot to get something to drink," Sonic said abruptly, ignoring all of their questions. He stood up and walked towards the drink table. Only one glass was left, filled with fruit punch. Sonic took it and began to walk back towards the table, and on the way he took a sip. It tasted sort of funny…but maybe that was just the flavor it was.

"Sonic, please tell us what's wrong! We're your friends; you can trust us!" Kirby twirled his spaghetti around his fork.

Sonic didn't reply and kept eating. He was starting to feel light-headed. The four Brawlers kept questioning him all through lunch, but Sonic didn't reply to any of them. He finished his meal and then sat back drinking the rest of his juice while the others kept talking to him. Why was he feeling so strange?

Suddenly Sonic dropped his glass, spilling punch all over the table. He couldn't breathe! Sonic knew that he was gulping in huge amounts of air, but they only brought him tiny sips of relief.

"Whoa, Sonic, are you ok?" Link grabbed Sonic's arm. Sonic shook his head, 'no', and kept trying to breathe.

The punch began emitting a strange smell into the air. Pit sniffed it, _"Almonds?" _

Sonic stood up, trying to get away from the strengthening odor, but that proved too much for his system and he fainted.

Link was barely able to catch Sonic before he hit ground, "Sonic, can you hear me? What's wrong?"

The other Brawlers came towards the table, wondering what was going on, and then Pit remembered what the scent was from, "Everyone, get away! This is dangerous! Someone call an ambulance!" Pit shoved Link into picking up Sonic, and made everyone move back. Already Pit was starting to get a headache…

"What's going on here?" Master Hand came floating with Crazy Hand behind him.

"Smells like bitter almonds…" Crazy Hand wiggled his fingers around.

Pit didn't take the time to ponder how a hand could smell, but since the Hands could talk, hear and see, who knows, "That isn't almonds; it's cyanide! Sonic's been poisoned, and if he doesn't get a shot of amyl nitrite in a half hour he'll die!"

Everyone jumped back when Pit explained the problem, and then the place became chaotic. In a matter of minutes the ambulance was on its way and Sonic was being closely monitored.

After a few minutes Meta Knight managed to grab Kirby's arm and pull him close. Meta Knight hissed under his breath so only the other puffball could hear, "Kirby, this is why Sonic didn't want to tell. I think his rapist threatened to kill him!"

"But how did they do it? Anyone could have picked up that glass, and where did they get cyanide from? Also, it didn't start to smell until Sonic dropped the glass…"

"Too many questions and not enough answers…what matters right now is that we have to be way more careful." Sonic was already being taken away by the medics, "I think Sonic will be alright, but the next time he may not be so lucky. We might even have to postpone our investigation"

"Damn it all. His abuser is one crafty bastard…"

Only a little bit away from the puffballs, Wario listened in to their conversation with the cuff. _"They're falling for my ploy…now onto part two…" _


	17. Mysterious Motivation

_**I'm going to the Video Games Live concert this weekend, so I'm posting this early. Enjoy!**_

"Sonic, can you hear me? Wake up…"

The voice slowly drew Sonic back into consciousness. His head hurt a lot…what had happened?

"Do you know where you are, Sonic?"

Sonic's eyes fluttered open, and he peered around the room. An IV pole was next to the bed he was lying in, and the needle was in his left hand.

"I'm in a… hospital?"

"Correct." Now Sonic could see who was talking to him; it was a nurse with tired brown eyes and black hair pulled sharply back with a clip.

"Don't worry; you won't be here for much longer. Margaret, take care of Sonic for now." The nurse left and another came in, this one much younger, with blonde, short hair, blue eyes and smiling.

"Your adorable angel friend knew what to do and you were brought here on time, so you'll live."

"Pit knew what to do, and there was a time limit? What?"

"Somebody poured cyanide into the punch you drank, and all through lunch you were drinking poison. That was enough time for the poison to seep from your stomach into your cells and cut off your breathing. Cyanide is usually acutely toxic, but you were extremely lucky. Not only wasn't it a lethal dose, but the poison was so diluted that it took a long time for it to have any major effects on you, and by that time you already had the antidote in your body."

"I was poisoned?" Sonic bit his lip. Did Wario know about the recording and now was getting desperate in order to keep everything a secret? Or maybe he found out that Sonic was holding onto the locket? Sonic hadn't tried to open the locket yet, and anyways whatever was inside could be completely useless. Regardless, Wario never said anything about _killing_ him…

"Yes, but I'm surprised they were able to poison you…" Margaret shrugged.

"May I speak with Pit, please?"

"I'll see…Pit's _so_ hot!" The girl sighed before exiting the room.

"How the heck does Pit know about poison?" Sonic muttered. He looked a bit more around the room, moving his feet back and forth a little. He was in a private room, and must have been up high for all he could see was blue sky with little wisps of clouds. All of the lights were off in the room, with the only light coming from the window. The room was a bare, dull white in the darkness. Luckily, he wouldn't be staying for long.

"You rang?" Pit walked up to the bed and leaned on it. He ignored the stares from the young nurse looking at his body and waited for Sonic to reply.

"Yes…I'd like to know how you know about poison."

"I thought you might ask…Medusa is a fan of poisons, and in order to keep up with her pestilences I had to read a lot about poisons. Cyanide is one of her favorites because it kills so quickly. You were very lucky."

"Ah…I see. That's all I was wondering about. You can go now if you want." Sonic began playing with the edge of the blanket.

Pit's voice dropped to a whisper so only Sonic could hear, "Sonic, the phone lines were repaired just in time to call the ambulance, and at the same time we called Tails. He's sending the recording as we speak. It won't be long before it arrives; four days max, and that's highly unlikely."

Sonic's face noticeably paled, even under his sapphire blue fur.

Pit looked over his shoulder, and seeing that the nurse had left the two alone he spoke a bit louder, "Is there something you want to tell me, Sonic?"

"No…" Sonic chewed on his lip and looked down at the covers.

"No one else is at the hospital except you, me and Master Hand. Everyone else is back at the Base. Your rapist will never know."

"_So the psychiatrist did tell Master Hand, and I guess he told Pit and the other three…" _"Where did you get this crazy idea that I was raped?" Sonic said harshly, "Everyone gets depressed once in awhile, you know. Just because I was a little upset for a few days doesn't mean you should expect the worse. Both of the Hands, you, Kirby, Link and Meta Knight are overreacting. I'm damn _fine_. Just drop all of this nonsense and let's get on with the Brawls."

"Sonic…"

"Go away; I don't want to see anybody right now and I don't ever want to speak to any of you about the past couple of weeks again. Just fuck off." Sonic rolled over to face the window, careful of the IV in his hand, and Pit slowly walked out of the room to join Master Hand and the others.

XXXXXXXXX

"Well? What did he say?" Kirby immediately asked as Pit entered the waiting room again.

A quick glance showed Pit there was nobody else around except the four of them; Master Hand must have left to talk to a doctor or something. Pit sighed, "Nothing. He denies everything."

"But his abuser can't kill him here! After this attempt on his life you'd think he would speak. Why won't he tell?" Link snapped.

"Maybe this goes deeper than just his life…" Meta Knight said.

"What do you mean?"

"Suppose his rapist is threatening to kill somebody else as well? I mean, he – or she – was able to poison Sonic when everybody was in the room, and nobody saw anything. If they can get around that easily, it would be simple for them to assassinate someone else as well…"

"Then who is the other target?" Kirby asked.

Meta Knight shrugged, "No idea."

"Well, as soon as that recording comes we'll call the police. They probably have a better chance of figuring out who's doing it than we do," Pit sat down next to Meta Knight.

"Not the police. We should call that organization from his world…what was it called…GUN, I think. They'd keep it a secret from everyone else, and I think some of his friends are agents to boot," Meta Knight contradicted.

"But what if his killer doesn't stick to poison? What if they do something else because this attempt failed?" Kirby piped in.

"What are you saying?" Pit asked.

"They could stab him with a knife…or with that huge and yet awesome meat cleaver in the kitchen."

"I think if they were going to try something else, they'd make it look like an accident…like possibly pushing him down the stairs," Meta Knight said.

"Or they could have him 'choke' on his own food," Link added.

"Or worse," Pit gasped, "Making it seem like he slipped into the pool and drowned!"

That made everyone completely silent. Sonic had to learn how to swim before coming to the Base, but he still hated water and avoided it whenever possible. He was a weak swimmer and everybody knew that. It would be easy for somebody just to hold him underneath until he died, and leave his body there…it would be easy to assume he fell in and couldn't get out…

"Ok, I'm sorry I mentioned it. But if his abuser is planning on using another murder method, there's currently no way of telling when and where they'd strike," Kirby said finally.

"I agree. Poison is more like a coward's choice among killing methods; the only reason so many people use it is because you don't have to be in the same room as the victim when they die. If you were to make him fall or choke or drown…you'd be there to witness the consequences," Pit added, "Also, poison is often mistaken for real diseases."

"We'll just have to keep a really sharp eye on Sonic. If we all share start sharing food, like continually ordering pizza, there's no chance the murderer will strike again – if Sonic gets sick, we all will," Meta Knight said.

"It would make thing suspicious, but…ok, we'll run the idea past Master Hand and wait for the recording to come to get this thing rolling," Kirby said while staring at a poster of the brain across the room.

"Let's just cross our fingers that it's soon…hopefully it'll come tomorrow!" Link leaned back in his chair, and once again there was only the sound of the ticking clock while they waited for Sonic to be released.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic feigned sleep while a nurse spoke with Master Hand. He caught a few words, including 'suicide attempt' and he dug his nails into his palms to keep from speaking. This was _not_ his fault! He didn't drink cyanide on purpose; Wario poured it in the juice!

After a few minutes the two left, and the last thing Sonic heard was that he was to be taken back to the Base in two hours; they were keeping him for a bit longer to make sure he'd be ok. There was more afterwards, but Sonic didn't catch it.

Now that there was nobody else in the room, Sonic opened his eyes and put his hands behind his head. He was going to have to think about everything; if Wario was planning on killing him, he had to at least know why and how. It was possible he could perform more sexual favors in return for his life…but maybe there was a way to change Wario's mind before that.

Sonic was running through every detail in his mind, and he flinched sometimes, remembering. He made three full circles before he realized something: nothing made sense.

Like that statement made much sense, but it was true. Wario never explained anything; it was like fifteen different plots jammed into one story. Wario had said that he wanted Sonic to leave for being third-party, and that he wanted Sonic to stay in order to have sex with him. He said that he chose to rape Sonic, and that it was the hedgehog's fault everything was happening. Wario had wanted to hurt Sonic, yet used lubricant to make things easier and gave him cream to help with the pain. Before he said Sonic would only lose his powers if he told, and now Wario was trying to kill him.

Like, what the fuck?

"_Not to mention everything else messed up about this whole ordeal. For example, if what Pit said was true, then those four could have asked for the recording that same night, but the storm stopped them. That's got to be the biggest fucking coincidence I've ever heard of, although I doubt Wario can summon storms. How did he hear of the recording anyways, whether it had been a week ago or today? Also, what's with the ghostly girl and the evil squishy monsters? What connection do both Wario and I have with her? Apparently he knows her, but I don't know her, and I'm not even sure I know Wario anymore. Something just seems off about him - even his voice seems to have changed a bit. He had plenty of time to get rid of me sooner, so why wait? What did I do to deserve this?" _

"Wario's lying about everything…he doesn't seem to have a real reason for hurting me. Maybe I can use that to my advantage somehow…" Sonic's eyes flickered to the doorway, making sure nobody was coming in. That was extremely weird; why would Wario lie about his motives? There was no reason to.

Sonic rolled over so he was facing the window again, and then the most puzzling thought of them all came into his mind, _"Wario was able to rape me because of that cuff, but it begs the question…where the heck did he get it from? I don't think he ordered it from a catalog or bought it at the neighborhood supermarket!_

_But then where did it come from…?" _

XXXXXXXXX

Wario sent another message off on his laptop, "**Sonic was sent to the hospital and like you said, lived, but the recording will be here in a few days. What now?"**

The reply was almost instant, **"Don't worry about that; I'll take care of it. I've already locked onto its position. As soon as Sonic returns to his room tonight, fuck him again. Fuck him so hard he'll be begging for you to stop, and at the same time make him beg for you to keep slamming your cock into his ass." **

Wario frowned and typed back, **"A number of people here are suspicious. It won't be long before they figure it out."**

"**I know we're running out of time, so we need to step it up. Type in the combination '4-3-3-7' into the key pad on the cuff in three days and when you put it on him he'll take anything you say even harder than before; he will hate himself more that night than he will for the rest of his life. Call him every filthy name you can think of and make him do any dirty thing that comes into your mind. Make him feel horrible about himself and he'll be gone before the news reaches the rest of them..." **

"**You sure this will work?" **

"**Positive; and as soon as it does I'll give you a nice reward."**

"**You were sure about that storm, and that didn't work. Wait, a reward? I don't recall you mentioning about giving me a reward." **

"**You've been doing such a great job that I thought I'd give you something extra…you'll like it. And it was a slight miscalculation on my part; I sent it a little bit too early." **

"**Whatever…it's nice of you to give me something." **

"**Ha, I'm **_**nice**_**, considering what I'm making you do? I'll get my revenge on that hedgehog by ruining his life as he has ruined mine!" **

"**Maybe you're taking this a little hard and going too far…" **Wario was starting to feel sympathy for Sonic once again, but a quick blackish flash from the computer screen made Wario emotionless towards the hedgehog, just like before.

"**Are you obeying me again, my minion?"**

"**Have I ever not?"**

"**Hm, I guess not. You've been giving me a good amount of information; it keeps me from watching you 24-7, which I can't. But you have no idea how everything's affected me…Sonic deserves to suffer forever as I shall be suffering. He worked pretty hard to come here for being a third party character, and you want him gone for overshadowing yourself as Mario's rival and I want him gone for…more personal reasons. Together we can get rid of him and destroy everything he has accomplished: his friendships, his self-esteem, his trust in others…everything. Unlike his main enemy Eggman, I don't care what it takes; any dark deed that will help me accomplish my goal will do. That cuff is my greatest creation, and with it in your hands we're unstoppable!"**

XXXXXXXXX

_**And the plot thickens! Dun dun dun…**_

_**I'm kind of surprised nobody brought this up…it's just like, "Wario's got this super-powerful cuff that can do everything! Cool!" Didn't anybody think about where it came from? **_

_**Stay tuned and the truth behind the cuff and both the mystery character's and Wario's intentions shall be revealed! Of course, you'll have to wait at least a week to find out! Mwa ha ha! *The evil author disappears* **_


	18. Slowly Falling Apart

Sonic tried once again to jam the blade of the kitchen knife between the silver edges of the locket. Just like before, it slipped out.

Sonic threw the knife down on his desk in frustration and looked at the little piece of jewelry. He had been at the hospital for most of the afternoon and had only arrived back at the Base around six. He just warmed up a TV dinner to eat instead of the actual meal and had eaten all alone in his room, in case his would-be murderer should strike again. Then he spent the next hour trying to open to locket with the knife. The damn thing was basically glued together; no matter what he did it wouldn't budge.

"I still won't give this to Wario…but I'll have to think of some other way to open it," Sonic said to himself as he dropped the locket into one of the drawers, "Besides, he really needs to explain himself for poisoning me…"

A knock on the door startled the hedgehog, "Yeah, what do you want?"

Pikachu opened the door slightly and said, "Hey, want to train a little? I'm bored out of my skull right now and the arena is empty."

"I thought half the items and stages don't even work," Sonic replied, not even bothering to look at him.

Pikachu entered the room and hopped up on the desk, "Oh, only a few don't! Come on! Please?" He made his eyes all cute and adorable.

"You could star in your own children's cartoon with that look."

"I already do!"

"Oh fine then; let's go!" Sonic got off of the chair and followed the laughing Pokémon to the arena. He had to keep busy to keep himself from thinking...

XXXXXXXXX

Later that night when Wario came in, the first thing Sonic did was snap at him, "What the fuck, Wario? Why did you poison me, you bastard? I've done everything you've wanted me to!"

Wario waved for him to sit on the bed while he locked the door, but Sonic refused to budge, "No way; what gives you any right to kill me? That wasn't part of our deal!"

"I wasn't _trying_ to kill you," Wario replied. Everything was set up for the torture session, so Wario slapped Sonic on his rear to get him to move towards the bed.

"You filthy liar; you chose cyanide of all things." Sonic glared at Wario but did what he commanded.

"Ah, but it wasn't a lethal dose, now was it? It wasn't meant to be. I just needed to get you out of the way for some time."

"Why?"

"Because of that recording those four Brawlers planned to order."

Sonic could almost feel his heart stop. "Please," Sonic whispered, "I didn't know this was going to happen. I'm sorry…just please don't make the cuff permanent."

"I won't." Wario grinned, "I've gotten rid of that recording."

"How did you do that?" Sonic was unconsciously gripping his sheets in fear.

"When everyone realized you had been poisoned they freaked out. During those moments of chaos I listened to Link and Meta Knight call Tails and ask for the recording. Of course they had to give him the necessary information; Tails only knows your contact info and they don't you want you receiving the package. Shortly after I sent a minion of mine out to lie in wait for the recording to come…they'll destroy it in a few days, wasting all of their time and forcing them to wait for the recording again. That will give us some time to have fun…now won't it?"

"You have _minions_? Like little demons?"

Wario laughed, "That's all you take out of the tale? I do, but they're not quite what you're thinking of…but don't you see? They'll keep trying to receive a copy of the recording and it never shall arrive."

"Won't it be suspicious if only this one package is destroyed over and over again?"

"I have others taking care of some other mail in order to disguise the plan…so you have nothing to fear."

"Oh, really…? Well, what about your excuses?"

"What?" Wario was already forcing Sonic's head down between his legs, thinking the conversation was over.

Sonic spoke with clenched teeth in order to keep Wario's erection out of his mouth, "You've told me so many stories that it doesn't make sense. Do you want me to leave or stay? Do you want me dead or alive? Are you doing this to me because you think I deserve it for some reason or because you simply want to fuck me? You've said 'yes' to both sides of these questions. Care to explain?"

"Maybe…but I think you need something in your mouth first so you don't interrupt my tale…" Wario snickered. Sonic inwardly sighed and opened his mouth.

"That's better," Wario said. After a few minutes, he spoke, "So, you've finally noticed, huh? The truth is that I don't want you to know the truth."

Sonic coughed, pulled back and gasped, "What do you mean by that?"

Wario gripped Sonic's quills and forced him back down, "I didn't say you could stop." He continued once Sonic began to suck again, "I just like messing with you, hedgie. You're so much fun to play with…and to fuck. Do I have a reason for fucking you? Of course, but I'm not telling you what it is. As for leaving or staying, the choice is yours; but you still need to keep this a secret, for if you don't I will find you and you know what will happen, now don't you?" He chuckled softly as he thrust into Sonic's mouth.

Once Sonic swallowed Wario's semen he tried to get more answers, "What about the ghost? What's with her?"

"That's none of your damn fucking business." Wario traced around Sonic's lips and held the finger out to him, "You missed a spot."

Sonic licked the last bits of semen off Wario's finger, feeling even more disgusted with himself. Afterwards he said, "It doesn't make any sense, Wario. Just tell me what the girl is all about."

Wario glared at Sonic, but his expression was a mixture of pain and anger. He made Sonic turn around on his hands and knees, and Wario pushed his erection against Sonic's entrance, but didn't penetrate him. He rubbed between Sonic's legs slowly. Finally Wario whispered, "She was my friend. I tried to save her, but it was too late. They had already killed her."

"You mean the squishy things?" Sonic asked, looking behind him. Wario slowly nodded. "I'm sorry, then. I guess that's why you don't want to talk about her?"

"Yeah, so just drop it." Wario trembled slightly, and then he forced Sonic's legs apart and entered. Sonic gasped from the sudden yet familiar pain between his legs, but then quickly jumped into his 'survival' mode.

"Damn, you're so fucking tight…no matter how much I fuck you you're still so tight…ah…relax a little hedgehog, I want to go deeper…"

Sonic was too focused on blocking out his mind he didn't pay attention; not like Wario would care much now anyways. Everything was a blur for Sonic, so he wasn't quite sure if he heard Wario say, "This makes it all better," or if he just imagined it.

Once Wario came inside of him, the tired hedgehog lay on his side and began to curl into a ball, wishing to go to sleep. Instead though, Wario forced him to uncurl and he inserted a finger inside of Sonic.

"What…? Wario, what are you doing? Aren't you…?"

"Fuck it; I'm sick and tired of you talking about Shania! This is _your_ entire fault, damn it! It's your fault she's dead! So keep those legs open, you whore, for you need to be punished!"

"What? I don't even know her! Is that your reason?" Sonic had lowered his protective barrier in shock. Wario's voice seemed to have changed…it seemed more fuzzy and deep…

"Shut up!" Wario yelled at Sonic, and slapped him hard across the cheek. His hand imprinted and left a red mark.

"Stop playing games with me! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You did everything wrong! If it wasn't for you, I could have saved her. But you…_you_…had to destroy me!"

"I don't understand! What are you talking about?"

"You brought this on yourself, Sonic! If you didn't hurt me I wouldn't have to hurt you!"

"How can you expect me to believe that? It's another lie! This is _your_ entire fault!" Sonic had to keep believing it wasn't his fault if he was going to get through this…

Wario seemed to snap at the comment. He became extremely aggressive with Sonic; his hands twisted Sonic's wrists and his thrusts had much more power behind them; more power than was necessary for Sonic's already stretched hole.

Wario stayed for two hours longer than normal, and Sonic knew he was going to be completely exhausted in the morning. After Wario pulled out for the fourth time, most of his anger seemed to have disappeared. He snapped the cuff off Sonic, and with his emotions under control he whispered to himself, "I've had enough of you. I'll get my final revenge soon…two days hedgehog; two days!" Wario left, muttering to himself.

Sonic didn't catch a word Wario said, and was now even more puzzled than before. His mind was like a ball of yarn; tangled to the point where he could barely even unravel the individual stories and piece together what was really going on.

So, if Wario was lying about everything before and the real reason behind this abuse was because Sonic somehow made Shania die…that didn't make sense!

Sonic buried underneath the covers and rubbed his temples, for he was starting to get a headache from lack of sleep and thinking so hard. Maybe it was better not to understand and just go along with it all…

XXXXXXXXX

_The next morning…_

"Hey Sonic, can I talk to you?"

"I'm busy," Sonic snapped. He reached into the bucket beside the bench and grabbed a bright green tennis ball.

"Look, it won't take very long…"

"I already told you guys to leave me alone! Go away Meta Knight; I've got a tennis match to play." Sonic picked up his racquet and walked towards the tennis court, while Meta Knight sighed and turned away. No matter how hard they tried, Sonic wouldn't speak to them. They just couldn't give up on him; they couldn't let this slide…

"No recording yet. It's probably going to take some time; the newspaper said that some mail is mysteriously disappearing from postal trucks." Kirby had dashed out of the Base and began walking beside Meta Knight, who was moving away from everybody towards a small wood.

"Just wonderful," Meta Knight sighed again and kicked at a dandelion. Little white seeds were caught in the breeze and danced around. "Sonic won't speak. He is either in denial or doesn't want to admit it." He slumped underneath a tree, watching other Brawlers go about their day. Kirby sat next to him.

"The only thing we can really do is watch him every minute…at some point his attacker will come to him," Kirby said after a few moments in the quiet.

"For all we know it could be happening at four in the morning or sometime in the day when nobody's around. We'll never be able to keep track of Sonic long enough to see. Besides, we'd be stalkers…"

"Nah…it is 'gathering information' for heroes and villains because it's our job. Whenever anybody else does it, that's when it's called 'stalking'."

Meta Knight chuckled softly and leaned against the tree.

"What now?" Kirby asked after another few minutes.

"Ssh…I'm trying to think here," Meta Knight whispered back, his eyes shut.

"Yeesh, sorry…I'll be Brawlin' if you need me." Kirby got up and ran back into the Base.

Meta Knight let himself go deeper into his thoughts, "_Right now Sonic seems to_ be _holding himself together, but before he was starving to death. There haven't been any more visible injuries and he doesn't seem to be so scared anymore. But has the abuse stopped? I don't think so. I think he's just pretending; on the outside he's ok but on the inside he's falling to pieces. Question is, how much longer before the cracks begin to show?"_

XXXXXXXXX

"I'm kind of tempted to do this…" Ike was holding the egg in his hand, perfectly smooth and white. He was staring at one of the walls in the kitchen.

"Do it," Sonic said, smiling. He was sitting on the counter next to the mixer, measuring out vanilla.

"Hm…" Ike looked at the egg once again, and then tossed it at the wall. It made a satisfying _splat_ just inches away from Pit's face.

"Hey, what the heck was _that_ for?" Pit automatically had flinched away from the egg, but little bits of the shell still splattered on his cheek.

"Sorry, I wasn't aiming at you…but that was actually fun." Ike and Sonic burst out laughing, and Pit joined it.

"Stop wasting food! Ike, clean it up!" Peach tossed him a towel from across the kitchen, smiling while she said it.

"No wonder kids like to egg houses…although I'd rather throw it at someone's face!" Sonic checked the recipe again to make sure he measured correctly before dumping the flavoring in.

"That would be a good idea, actually...we should convince everyone on Easter next year to have an egg fight," Pit said, pulling out the flour bin.

"Yes, we could decorate the Easter eggs raw and then throw them at each other!" Peach reached for another carrot and began to peel it.

Everyone burst out laughing again. While they weren't really serious, it did seem like an entertaining idea.

"Ok, who's up for setting the buffet table?" Ike asked after they calmed down. Everyone groaned. The four Brawlers had given Crazy Hand a break and had taken over dinner preparations for the night. That included setting out dishes; a boring and tiring job.

"Make Sonic do it. He's the fastest!" Pit said, dumping the flour into the mixer.

"Why do I have to do the worst job? I did it last time I had kitchen duty!" Sonic stopped the mixer for a minute to scrape the sides.

"Ok, we play a game of rock, paper, scissors and loser sets the table," Ike said.

"Best two out of three?"

"Nope, first one and that's it."

After a quick tournament, Pit was declared the loser. Sighing, he picked up the pile of plates and walked into the dining room. If Ike was Sonic's abuser, he wouldn't dare to attack the hedgehog while Peach was in the room…would he?

"Batter's done, and it tastes delicious," Sonic said, taking a clean spatula and dipping it into the bowl. He heaped a generous amount onto the utensil before licking it off.

"Hey, leave some for us!" Ike picked up two more spatulas and covered them with dough. He handed one to Peach and kept the other for himself.

"Mmm…nice and creamy…although we shouldn't eat any more of it," Peach said while dropping her spatula into the sink.

"What about Pit?" Sonic asked.

"Eh, he can have the bowl." Ike grabbed a cake pan and began to spray it with cooking oil, "I can handle this, Sonic. Want to help Peach with the salad?"

"Just don't eat any more batter or I'll have to steal your piece!" Sonic hopped off of the counter.

"Aw, don't do that! I promise I won't." Ike sprinkled the first cake with chocolate chips and slid it into an oven.

"I'll be watching you…" Sonic crossed the kitchen in about a half second and grabbed a stepping stool so he could see the counter top without sitting on it. "Alright," Sonic said once he was standing next to Peach and had removed his gloves, "What can I do?"

"You finish up these carrots. I swear if I have to peel one more of these things a number of them will meet the same fate as that egg." Peach pushed her cutting board over to Sonic with the knife, and handed him two bowls; one with cut and peeled carrots and the other full of the veggies still needing to be done.

"How are my chickens coming along?" Crazy Hand floated into the kitchen and opened the oven next to the cake one. When you had to feed forty people at every meal, it paid to have double or triple of every appliance.

The scent of roasted chicken filled the room. "That's making my mouth water!" Pit said when he came back into the room to grab some more dishes, "How much longer until supper?"

"Hm…they're a nice golden brown right now, but I like them a bit crisper…I'd say about another fifteen minutes. Thanks for your help guys; it gives me a nice little break." Crazy Hand stretched and then floated out of the room again.

"That guy could have made millions in the restaurant business if he wasn't so loopy," Ike said while sliding the last cake in.

"I bet about ninety percent of that would have gone to either repairing the building from fires or feeding animals," Pit replied, stacking glasses on a tray.

Crazy Hand had this thing for animals, and if he visited another world he would always come back with another creature. Sometimes it seemed like he cared more about the animals than the Brawlers (ok not really), like during the storm when he made sure all of the aquariums were safe and that the other animals were comfortable before helping out. That's how much animals meant to him, and how there came to be Squishy (the jellyfish named by Kirby), Miles (the badger Sonic named after his friend), Arwing and Wolven (two geese named by Fox and Wolf) and so on.

Crazy Hand would bring home another friend, let a Brawler name it, and then keep it in the Base until Master Hand got frustrated enough and told him to release the animals if they were wild or find homes for them if they were domestic. Eventually a nature preserve was built close to the Base, much to the left hand's delight, and he kept watch over his animal friends constantly outdoors, which made the right hand happy. Crazy Hand's office might as well have been a zoo with all of the creatures it held, and the collection never stopped growing.

Of course, any animal that Crazy Hand got his fingers on would never be truly wild again. Instead of staying in the preserve, they usually hung close by and demanded attention, like now…

A soft whinny made the four Brawlers turn towards the window. A young black stallion with a white diamond on his nose was poking his head through the window and eating a head of lettuce.

"I guess he didn't feel like staying in the barn any longer with Epona," Pit said, smiling.

"Hey Blackwind," Ike said, scratching behind the horse's ear, "How are you?" His shirt was nibbled as a response.

"Hungry, I suppose," Peach sighed, "Give him that lettuce; there's no point in using it now."

Ike laughed while he ripped off a few pieces and held them out to Blackwind. The stallion began to eat them.

"You should go get Meta Knight and tell him his horse is at the window," Sonic said, moving over so he could pet Blackwind as well.

"Might as well, because it looks like you two have got dinner covered."

"Well, the buffet table still isn't done, so if you wish to help me with that…" Pit asked.

"Ok, I'll grab the Knight and then help you." Ike slung his sword over his back and left the room.

"You'd better not move slowly on purpose!" Pit called after him before disappearing into the dining room.

"No promises!" Ike shouted back.

Sonic quickly washed his hands after petting the horse and returned to the carrots. He actually had barely done anything considering all of the distractions that had just occurred. Now he focused on chopping up the carrots instead of other things.

Of course, cutting up something as simple as carrots didn't require a ton of attention. It didn't take long before Sonic's mind began to wander. Carrots…long, fat and thin…they were shaped like a –

Damn it, couldn't he do _anything _without thinking about sex? Wario was corrupting his mind…yeah, normally he had the same thoughts like any teenager, but now sex was taking over his life. It's what he had been reduced to; a sex object and nothing more.

"_Hey, the old Sonic wouldn't be like this! He wouldn't have let Wario continue to rape him and he wouldn't have given in! He would have been strong; he was never one to be depressed or fall so hard. He wouldn't be putting himself down and making himself miserable…"_

But what had happened to that Sonic? Where did he go? Was he gone for good, or just buried in his heart somewhere? Sonic wanted him back…he wanted the heartache to stop, just die…

When that thought passed through Sonic's mind, a sharp pain flashed, and for a brief moment, the hedgehog felt relief.

"Sonic, stop it! You're bleeding!"

Sonic came out of his little world at Peach's words and looked down at his hands. Because he was so deep in the thought he had sliced his own finger, nearly to the bone. Blood was quickly pooling next to the carrots, giving the indigo cutting board a purple tinge.

"How could you have been so careless? Here…" Peach dragged Sonic and the stepping stool to the sink and stuck his hand under the tap while she turned it on. The wound stung a little because the water was so cold.

"Stay right there, I'm going to get some bandages…a lot of them." Peach quickly dashed out of the room.

Blackwind had disappeared some time ago, probably led away by Meta Knight, who had named him. Neither Ike nor Pit had returned yet; the only sound in the room was the running tap.

Sonic stared at his hand, growing colder by the second under the water. Yet he made no move to turn it off or turn the hot water on; he was stunned by his thoughts. He was happy for that moment when he cut himself. The physical pain was easier to deal with than his mental pain.

Wario had destroyed his victim to the point where Sonic was willing to harm himself to feel better. He couldn't stop thinking about the rape; that was all that was on his mind. Yet for that brief moment everything was fine because the pain distracted Sonic, and it didn't come from the abuse. Even when Wario wasn't around, he could still hurt Sonic through his thoughts. Wario didn't need to poison Sonic for him to die; at this rate Sonic would probably end up killing himself.

"Whoa, what happened?" Ike tapped Sonic on his shoulder. He had just returned from fetching Meta Knight and was confused on why Sonic was standing so still at the sink.

"I cut myself," Sonic said. At first he sounded normal, and then he giggled. For some reason the idea of never escaping Wario struck him as being overly funny. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what way of coping he used, Wario would hurt him. It didn't matter what Wario's motivations were. Sonic was doomed; utterly doomed. And it only took him two whole weeks to figure it out.

"Here we are," Peach said, holding a first-aid kit, "Are you alright, Sonic?"

"_Of course I'm alright! I'm being raped by somebody about twice my age every night and I cannot protect myself! I'll be hurting forever thanks to Wario; but maybe I can hurt myself instead! It's easier if I cause myself physical pain than it is to take it and mental abuse from somebody else. I already hate myself for letting everything happen; why not add one more thing to the list?" _Sonic burst out laughing.

The other two stared in shock while Sonic just laughed. He slowly pulled his hand away from the sink, turned around so his back was against the counter and slowly sank to the floor. The entire time he was laughing so hard he was practically hysterical.

"Ike, go fetch Master Hand," Peach whispered. Ike nodded and left, while Peach knelt down to bandage Sonic's hurt left hand.

Sonic couldn't stop laughing; he was shaking and gasping for air, but he couldn't stop. So much for acting normal; after this everyone would think he's completely nuts. Who cared anyways; he had been doomed from the start.

Time made no sense to Sonic anymore. At some point Master Hand came in and tried asking him some questions, but all Sonic heard was blood roaring in his ears. Pit was shaking his shoulders, trying to tell him something, but Sonic couldn't tell what he was saying. After several failed attempts by multiple Brawlers to get him to calm down, Ganondorf walked in and slapped Sonic hard on his left cheek.

Now that worked. Sonic finally stopped and began to breathe deeply in order to get some more oxygen. He giggled quietly, but his laughing fit was over.

"What the hell was that about?" Ganondorf asked.

"_Oh shoot…a lie, a lie, I need to lie!"_ "Back at home something very similar happened. You see, I was in the shop with Tails and Knuckles, and – oh, never mind. The story is one of those 'you had to be there to understand' moments. At that time it wasn't that funny either, but we laughed for a long time anyways. I just was remembering, is all…" _"Wow, it's easier to lie now. I think they'll buy it…"_

"Wow, you were hysterical for like, ten minutes. Dinner's ready, anyways. Hungry?" Ness asked.

"Yeah, sure am…that was so funny…I can no longer take the flu seriously anymore…"

"What?" everyone asked.

"Like I said, you had to have been there to understand." Sonic got up and walked into the dining room to get something to eat. Most of the Brawlers just shrugged and dismissed the incident. Four, however, weren't quite sure when they heard of it…

"Do you think he's going insane?" Kirby whispered.

"No clue, but he doesn't sound right in the head…" Link glanced over at Sonic, who was acting 'normal' once again.

While Captain Falcon distracted everyone at the table with a dumb criminal story, Sonic slipped his knife into his glove. He had returned the one he used to try and open the locket, but he decided to take another one.

The truth was Sonic preferred physical pain to mental pain. At least body wounds would heal; scars on your heart might never. He had already tried so many ways to mentally deal with his depression, but maybe now he had to try something physical instead.

If cutting himself was the answer and would make the pain easier to deal with, he'd do it.

_**Eh, I'm not sure how good this part is because I'm tired and you know how things can sound good even though they're not when you're exhausted? Yeah…**_

_**Anyways, a major event is coming next chapter, so stay tuned! **_


	19. Shattered

"_Don't do it."_

Sonic was in his bathroom all alone the next morning, with both the bedroom and bathroom doors locked. His bare right hand was over his sink, palm up, and he was holding a steak knife over his wrist. He wasn't sure whether or not to bring it across…

"_This isn't healthy! You're going too far with finding a coping method!" _

Sonic stared at the knife for some time. Yesterday he had been sure about this, but now he wasn't. His mind began to wander, and it immediately went to what Wario was doing to him…

He slashed his wrist, leaving a bloody gash but clearing his mind from the thoughts.

"_Stupid! Hurting yourself won't make anything better."_

Like how Wario was hurting him…Sonic couldn't help it; he just had to make a few more cuts. Five red lines joined the first.

"_Stop it! Put the knife down and go get some breakfast. Eating will make you forget."_

'Eat'…he ate two mouthfuls of semen just last night…another three marks.

"_This isn't going to help! None of the other coping methods you've tried have worked; why should this one? It's only going to make things worse because now you've decided to self-harm." _

"I don't care," Sonic whispered, "It'll work for a little while and that's what matters. Every moment I finally feel safe again is worth it. I know cutting is bad, but I'm desperate."

He looked at his now bloody wrist, "Just a few cuts on the left one and that's all for today."

After eight more slashes, Sonic waited for the bleeding to stop, washed his hands and the blade and then put his gloves back on. He hid the knife before heading downstairs to eat and continue keeping busy.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stay away from the blade all day long. Sometimes when he was doing an activity something would remind him of the abuse…and he felt the major urge to cut. Sonic kept away for some time, but by noon he just _had_ to hurt himself again.

"You guys go on ahead," Sonic said to DK and Snake, who he had just trained with, "I just need to get something from my room." The others nodded and walked to the dining room, while Sonic headed upstairs.

In his room, Sonic opened the cupboard under his sink. He lifted the pile of towels under there and pulled out the kitchen knife. He made seven more cuts on his wrists before washing up and hiding the evidence again.

"Huh…I didn't expect myself to _need_ to cut. Can somebody become addicted to cutting?" Sonic looked down at his hands; even though he couldn't see the scars he could feel their presence.

"Look at me. What have I become? I was always the strong one before. I could take care of myself and I always triumphed in the end…but now…" Sonic glanced at the mirror above the sink for a fraction of a second, then immediately turned away. He couldn't even stand looking at himself in the mirror anymore. He didn't want to see what had happened to him.

XXXXXXXXX

After a long day of activities, Sonic really needed to rest. His 'internal clock' had forced him out of bed at seven in the morning like when he usually got up, meaning he had about two hours of sleep. Now he felt like he was going to collapse at any moment.

Sonic was able to escape at nine to his room. He thought about cutting again, but he was simply too tired. As soon as he got on his bed he fell asleep instantly.

Still, he only got another three hours before a finger tracing around his entrance made him wake up. He shivered while the digit slowly wedged its way inside.

"Wake up, Sonic. Are you still tired from last night's adventure?"

"_More like last night's torture." _"Wario please let me sleep. I'm so exhausted I can barely think."

"Like you need to think to be fucked…it'll be over sooner if you just listen to me."

Sonic moaned and pulled a pillow over his head. "Go away," Sonic whimpered; his voice muffled by the cushion, "I'm tired. I need to sleep. Fuck me all you want tomorrow, but let me rest today."

"You want to go a day without sex, huh? That's a lot to ask for, hedgehog."

"_That's barely anything! Anybody who had compassion would let me rest…" _"What do you want in exchange; should I give you an extra blowjob? I'll do that for a good night's sleep…"

"Mm…I don't think so. Do you have anything else to offer?"

"Does it _look_ like I have anything else to offer?" Sonic rolled over so he could see Wario, removing the finger from his backside in the progress. He moved the pillow onto the side of his head so his face was showing, "Don't you understand what you've done to me? You've _raped_ me. You've taken away my virginity; most get to choose who they give it to. I didn't have that choice. I never realized how precious that innocence was. It was always there, and now that's it's gone…" Sonic voice began to shake slightly, "I feel horrible; disgusting; _used_. If it wasn't for that damn cuff, I wouldn't be doing any of this. I've had to perform oral sex on you and then swallow the semen. I let you have anal sex with me in multiple positions. I've had to endure your beatings and insults. I have to lie perfectly still while you molest me every night. You even like to spank me for 'erotic' humiliation, and if I do anything wrong, you beat me. I've been forced to do nearly every sexual activity possible for you to enjoy your sick little fantasy but by far the hardest thing I've had to bear is keeping it all a secret."

Wario said nothing, so Sonic took a deep breath and continued, "I've done that. I haven't told a soul. Your plan has gone perfectly and now when I ask for you let to me have a small break for once you won't let me. I don't have anything to give to a future partner of mine because you've already taken it all from me. So the answer is no; I don't have anything else to offer to you. Now fuck off until tomorrow so I can rest and then you can continue violating me all you want."

Sonic rolled back over and pulled the pillow over his head. Wario was completely quiet, but because the door hadn't made a sound Sonic knew Wario hadn't left the room. After what seemed like a year Wario spoke, "Alright, a small activity and then I'll leave."

"Sure; as if you'll be finished with me in fifteen minutes." Sonic rolled his eyes, even though Wario couldn't see.

"I'm serious. Only oral sex and then you can sleep."

"_Interesting…but I just offered him that. Oh well, he must have changed his mind, and at least he'll go away after…"_ "Fine then; I'll suck you off. But afterwards you leave me alone for the rest of the night."

"Alright, it'll do." Wario began to unbuckle his belt, while Sonic tossed the pillow to the side. Finally he could sleep all night long! He hadn't done that in weeks!

When Wario was ready, Sonic moved forward to begin. However, Wario stopped him.

"Not that way, Sonic. Try the other end."

Sonic pulled back and his eyes went wide when he realized what Wario meant. His torturer began to laugh when he saw the poor hedgehog's distressed face. Sonic looked absolutely miserable.

Sonic shuddered while he made his way behind Wario. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lowered his face to Wario's bottom half and stuck his tongue out…

XXXXXXXXX

"_That tasted even worse than Wario's erection that first time! I never thought anything could be viler. How can anybody willingly do that, even if they love the person? It was so sick…" _Sonic was in his bathroom, brushing his teeth with fury. He just had to get that aftertaste out of his mouth. Even semen seemed appetizing compared to what his tongue had just encountered.

The cinnamon flavor of the toothpaste soon overruled whatever the hell flavor it was before. Sonic rinsed once more and then used some mouthwash for good measure.

"_At least he's gone. It's only slightly past midnight and he's left me alone. Good…six or so hours is what I could really use…I think I'll stay in bed tomorrow and sleep for twelve or more…what a relief…" _

Sonic splashed water on his face to hold him awake long enough to take an antidepressant. The damn things didn't seem to be working, but then again he'd only been taking them for less than a week. They probably just hadn't affected him yet.

He set his toothbrush back into its holder, but looking at it made his eyes drop lower, to the cupboard underneath his sink. Did he have to?

Yes, he did.

Sonic opened the door and grabbed the knife; there was no need to lock the bathroom door, for he did it out of habit now. He pulled off his gloves and set them on the side. Sonic ran the knife under hot water and then made the first cut…

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic finally slept for a good eleven hours before getting up. He hadn't changed his sheets for the past two days, but he simply didn't care enough to right now. Well, there was that and he also was out of extra sets. He carefully made his bed so nothing would show, and after making new incisions on his wrists he headed downstairs.

"Hey Sonic, you little sleepy hedgehog; you slept right through breakfast! Are you alright?" Lucario had just left his room and caught up to Sonic on the stairwell.

"Just a bad night…my friend sent me a really creepy story. I woke up at two in the morning terrified for some stupid reason…" Sonic laughed.

"I bet if you annoy Crazy he'll give you some breakfast."

"Pfffttt…I can survive on cereal."

"Aw, if Crazy heard you say that you'd have hurt his feelings!"

Sonic laughed again, and headed towards the kitchen, "Hey Lucario, want to Brawl after I eat?"

"Sure; why not? I'm up for a good fight. I'll have some cereal as well too…I'm still kind of hungry." He sat next to Sonic at the island in the kitchen, "Pass the milk, please."

XXXXXXXXX

In the past four and a half days now Sonic had been in the weight room nine times, trained with eight different Brawlers for an hour each, played six tennis matches, went for seven hour-long runs, joined in three rounds of Brawlopoly and one five and a half hour game of Apples to Apples (they had gone through every green card), as well as taking more than his fair share of chores; and that was only a third of his activities. By nightfall Sonic was so exhausted that he barely could make it up the stairs to his room to sleep.

After he had finished his Brawls with Lucario (they had each won one, and then decided to have the tiebreaker later because a group was signed up for the time they finished at) Sonic decided to head outside for two reasons: number one, there were plenty of distractions, and number two, he could (hopefully) avoid talking with Master Hand about his breakdown yesterday.

"What do you mean you lost the package?" Sonic stopped dead at the end of the hallway and peered around the corner. Link was talking to a postal worker at the front door. Strange, Sam was never late…he always made it at precisely eight in the morning.

"Sorry Link, I know that box was important, but unfortunately it just…disappeared. One minute it was in my truck and the next it was gone; I swear! That's why I'm late; I stopped and checked everywhere for it. It's just gone. I'm sorry…"

"We'll have to wait even longer…thanks anyways, Sam." Link took the rest of the mail from Sam and sighed. He shifted through the letters, picked out two that were addressed to him and walked away in order to hand the rest out.

"_That package must have been the recording! Wario did get rid of it!" _

"I told you I'd get rid of it, Sonic," Wario said as he walked up beside the hedgehog. Sonic didn't respond right away, but inside he jumped. Wario basically just read his mind.

"That's good," Sonic whispered back after a moment.

Wario squeezed Sonic's rear and replied, "As you can see, my little sexy hedgehog, there's nothing for you to worry about. You just keep that hot body of yours in shape and we'll be on good terms."

Wario walked away before somebody saw them like that, but Sonic stood frozen in shock. Wario called him _sexy_? That was new! Either he guessed Wario's motive wrong _again_ or Wario was just fucking with his mind.

"_Damn it all! Why can't Wario just fucking tell me why he hates me so much? Sometimes I think it's because I killed somebody he loved, other times it's because he just hates me. At least I'd know why this is happening…" _Sonic looked around, and seeing nobody inside he went out.

"_Wario's just crazy…how did he think all of this up? He's got me bowing down to him; knowing I can't back out or escape. Has he been planning this from day one? Creeper…"_ Sonic had run a couple of miles and was now standing on top of a grassy hill. He looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed. If the recording had been delivered and the truth found out, what would have happened? Maybe everything would have been ok, or maybe it would have ended like Wario said it would.

It was strange thinking about what could have been; that tape would have been the end of the abuse: the end could have been either good or bad, but of course he'd never know.

Sonic shook his head and sat down on the grass. Why was he thinking like this? Nothing really mattered other than the fact that Wario had disposed of the document and it wasn't coming. There was no point thinking about the past; he had to focus on how to survive another night.

XXXXXXXXX

Nightfall came all too soon. Sonic didn't bother taking a shower for he was going to become filthy quickly anyways, so he just lay down on his bed and waited.

Wario walked in shortly after midnight, snapped the anklet on Sonic after activating the sound shield and locked the door, "Ready for this, Sonic?"

"Yes…" Sonic sighed. Wario looked up at Sonic and grinned. His eyes seemed so much darker and sinister…common sense told Sonic this was Wario, and yet his heart told him this was somebody – or something – else.

Wario began doing the most horrid things Sonic could have ever dreamed of; he would stick his fingers into Sonic's rear and then make Sonic suck on them, and he withdrew early from oral so when Wario came the semen splattered all over Sonic's face. Wario had done some pretty nasty things, but he had never, _ever_ been this cruel. Why now?

The entire time Wario was insulting Sonic and degrading him to the point where Wario was basically saying Sonic shouldn't have been born and didn't deserve to exist. He lowered Sonic even more by changing the usual 'punishment' Sonic received if he didn't comply right away with Wario's demands. Instead of the general light punches and slaps, as to not leave any marks, Wario would actually pull out of Sonic, flip him over and spank him hard. It made Sonic feel simply embarrassed and terrible.

"You're nothing but a dirty whore who needs to be fucked. You're an utter waste. Why don't you go kill yourself and save everyone the trouble?"

"_He's lying, Sonic…don't let him get to you!" _Sonic tried to ignore everything and withdraw, but he was so busy blocking his emotions from coming out he felt every last sting of pain.

"You want to suck some cock, Sonic?" Wario pulled out of Sonic and pushed into his mouth. Sonic submitted to Wario's bidding, but it wasn't good enough for him. As soon as Wario came, he pulled out of Sonic's mouth, turned Sonic over and spanked him again.

"This is all you really need – a good spanking and a good fucking. You enjoy it so much, don't you?" Wario twisted Sonic back and entered again.

"_This isn't natural! How's he getting his erection back so fast? Come to think of it, that's been happening all along…" _

"Go on Sonic, beg for me to stop – you can't handle this, worthless fucker like you. I've proved to you that you can't do anything, and you know it. You have nothing and are nothing – nobody here gives a damn about you. They don't care…and do you know why they don't care?" Wario smirked at Sonic's terrified face, "It's because of you, Sonic. Everyone hates everything about you – I'm just the only one who's taken action. This is your entire fault, Sonic. Everything that I've done to you was caused by you – the only one you can hate is yourself."

The abuse had gone on for too long, and with the combination of the cuff and because he kept hearing the lies over and over, something deep inside Sonic snapped. Sonic now completely believed what Wario was telling him; that he really was worthless, that he had caused the abuse to happen, and worst of all, that he deserved it.

"I get it…it's my entire fault…" Sonic whispered quietly.

He didn't know Wario had heard him, _"It's worked, amazing…" _"You're not that tight anymore; I guess I've fucked you too much tonight…until tomorrow, then." Wario pulled out after one final orgasm, and then snapped the anklet off and left.

Sonic was shaking and rolling back and forth on his bed, _"I brought this on myself; I deserved this; I'm nothing compared to the others here…" _He slowly slid off of the bed onto the floor, _"Why did I come here? I don't deserve to be here. I'm worthless…" _He made himself stand up, and on his left was one of his bedside tables. Sonic opened the little drawer in it and pulled out the bottle of antidepressants.

"_Wario's right…I shouldn't exist. I can no longer fight him. I should just end everything and get rid of my pathetic self…" _Sonic slowly twisted off the cap and poured the remaining pills into his hand.

"_All I have to do is swallow them. That's it. It won't be very long before this is all over and I won't have to suffer anymore. I don't want to live." _Sonic began to put the handful in his mouth.

"_Just a few pills…that's all it will take." _

_**I overuse cliffhangers, although this is the only time I've planned one. Oh well! I'll see if I can finish the next part a few days early so I don't make everyone wonder for much longer….**_


	20. Escaping One Way or Another

There; it was done. He had swallowed the last of the pills. In a few minutes he'd surely be dead because of an overdose.

Sonic sat down and leaned against his bed. One hand held the now empty vial, while the other was resting on the floor.

The words on the vial began to blur; not because of the pills, but because his eyes were filling with tears. Why did it have to end this way? Sonic blinked them back, but the emotions were still inside. He slowly looked up at his desk. Maybe he should write a note telling everyone the truth? It would save them the trouble later on…

The medication wasn't affecting Sonic yet, so he stood up and made his way over to the desk. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and simply scribbled on one side,

_To the Brawlers and Hands,  
I simply couldn't take it anymore.  
For over two weeks Wario has been raping me.  
I let him do it because he had a cuff that took away my powers and made me unable to fight back. It was invisible to everyone except him and me. I would lose my abilities forever if I told.  
This was my only way out. Thanks for having me here; it was fun while it lasted._

_Sonic_

He thought for a few seconds, and then flipped the paper over. This time he wrote to his friends back home,

_To my friends,  
Hey guys. I hope you're not mad at me for ending my life.  
Don't think for a single moment that I didn't care about you all; I just no longer cared about myself.  
There simply are some nightmares that you can't escape from, no matter how hard you try. I had to learn it the hard way and pay the ultimate price.  
I hope that somehow you'll all forgive me and move on. I don't know how long it will take, but please don't make the same mistake I did. Losing one friend is enough._

_I love you all. Sonic_

He folded the paper twice and stood up. His knees nearly buckled and his mind began to whirl; probably signs that the pills were kicking in. Somehow Sonic managed to make it to the end of his bed and slump onto the floor. It was becoming hard to breath, and he felt like he was beginning to burn up.

His head felt so heavy; slowly Sonic lay face down on the ground. He gripped the note and vial in one had, and the other helped move his head so he was facing the door.

"So this is it…maybe I'll see them all again someday." Sonic slowly took one final breath before everything went white, "Goodbye…"

XXXXXXXXX

"He's been sleeping for a long time now…it's almost noon…should we wake him up?" Pikachu was walking alongside Jigglypuff and Lucario. They had been planning to ask Sonic to join them in a Brawl, but so far nobody had seen him all day.

"Eh, might as well check on him. He doesn't usually sleep for this long…" Lucario switched directions and headed towards the stairs. The other two Pokémon followed him.

"Hello? Sonic…?" Jigglypuff knocked on the door.

"Hm…" Lucario pounded loudly on the door to make sure Sonic heard, "Hey hedgehog, rise and shine!"

"The door's unlocked…" Pikachu muttered, trying the knob, "Something isn't right here…I can feel it."

"Open it," Lucario said.

Pikachu did, and then he froze in place. Sonic was lying on the floor not five meters away from them, covered in blood and something else. And it didn't look like he was breathing.

"Holy – Sonic, are you ok?" Lucario moved to Sonic's side and began rubbing him. He stopped for a moment, and then began to shake him roughly, "Please Sonic, show me that you're alive! Sonic, can you hear me? Oh no, please no…"

Pikachu moved closer to Sonic and put two fingers on his neck. No pulse. "He's dead," Pikachu whispered, "Sonic's dead."

Jigglypuff moved beside the other two, and she saw the bottle in Sonic's right hand. She removed it and the message, and then began to read the side addressed to the Brawlers.

The other two hadn't noticed she had come into the room yet, "What the fuck? Is that…semen?" Lucario motioned to Sonic's legs. It certainly looked like it…

"Was he raped and then killed?" Pikachu whispered.

"No," Jigglypuff replied sadly, unable to keep the tears inside any longer, "It was a suicide." She shakily held up the note, "This has been going on for weeks and he couldn't take it anymore. He killed himself."

The Brawlers were shocked to their very cores. Lucario and Pikachu began to feel tears slipping out of their eyes as well, and then Pikachu ran out of the room screaming, "Master Hand! Come quickly! Sonic's dead!"

XXXXXXXXX

The funeral occurred two days later.

While a huge crowd showed up to morn the fallen hero, only those close to Sonic knew what really happened. The story that went around otherwise was that he died of a strong and rare disease.

Sonic was buried in a huge field, like he always loved to run in. A statue of the hedgehog was there to mark the burial site, and flowers were planted around it.

At the burial itself, both the Brawlers and Sonic's closest friends showed up. Tails was crying so hard Knuckles had to hold the fox up, although he found it nearly impossible to do so because of his own tears. Amy eventually had to be carried away because she was sobbing so much. Many others cried their hearts out, while some just stood there in shock, too stunned to speak or cry.

The reception was an interesting thing. While the 'extra guests' told stories about Sonic and his life, the main funeral party spent most of the time together wondering and asking _why_. Why did he do it? Would he have changed his mind if I had said this? Would it have mattered if I had done that? Could anything have been done to save Sonic?

"He was my best friend," Tails sobbed, "Couldn't he see that we loved him? Why did he have to kill himself? Why?"

"Why do they have to ask all of these questions that even I can't answer?" Sonic mused. He was standing off to the side, watching his own funeral. But this wasn't right; wasn't he to stop existing anymore? Or possibly be floating around in the clouds right now? So what was he doing here? And what had happened to Wario?

This didn't seem real. Perhaps it wasn't.

But seeing everybody mourn him…if he could have changed his mind before, he would have. If he couldn't live for himself, he could have continued to live for others. Of course it was too late now; he was actually dead.

"_No, you're not."_

"Huh? What was that?" Sonic looked around. Did he imagine it?

"_You're not dead yet. Take the path of life, Sonic. You're running out of time." _

XXXXXXXXX

"Ugh…what was that?" Sonic moaned. So actually he wasn't dead. The pills must have made him have a hallucination of seeing his own funeral.

Dream or not, Sonic couldn't go through with this. Now he wanted to live. He couldn't give up this easily. He had to win over Wario, even in a small way.

But his limbs felt like lead. He could barely move, think or breathe. He was dying. Maybe there was a chance he could make himself vomit and get rid of the poison? He had to try.

Every part of his body felt like it weighed a hundred tons. Slowly Sonic dragged himself to his bathroom, feeling the urgent need to survive. Luckily the bathroom door was open and toilet lid up. He managed to pull himself up to the toilet, and he stuck a finger down his throat.

He threw up every last pill; most of them were only half-digested. Maybe a few seconds more would have been it, and he would have died. Sonic slumped against the tiled floor, and began to pull himself together. The shock of what he nearly did now rang clear.

"_I almost did it…I almost killed myself. I've gone totally insane." _Sonic was sitting against his bathroom wall, shaking. _"I'm not coping with this at all; I never was. I can't take it anymore. I was able to stop myself this time, but what about later? I have to get away before I do end my life. Wario's won; he's getting me to leave…that much I'm certain of, and he can win for all I care. I have to get out of here." _

Sonic smashed the plastic bottle into pieces and threw both the remains of the vial and note into the toilet. He got rid of that evidence, and then stood up and limped over to the sink. He grabbed a small towel and washed himself to get rid of the rest. After applying the cream, Sonic made his way downstairs. Wario had ruined his phone, so he was using the one in the dining room; usually it was used for ordering in take out.

Sonic dialed the familiar number and listened to it ring, _"Please be there, just please be there..." _A little screen on the phone's base said it was four-thirty in the morning, so it should be around nine at home…

"Hello?" The voice was like heaven to Sonic.

"Tails, are you busy today?"

"Sonic? Finally I get to speak with you again! I'm not busy. What's up?"

"Things…look; I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure; what is it?"

"Could you come and pick me up, preferably today?"

"Hey, you're coming back for a visit? Of course I can! When do you want me to come?

"You don't exactly understand…I'm not coming home for a visit. I'm coming home for good."

Sonic could hear Tails gasp over the phone, "Quit Super Smash Brothers?"

"Tails, please, don't make this harder than it already is…it's just not safe for me here any longer."

"But you said you liked it there! You've been doing so well!" There was a pause of silence, and Tails' voice was very soft, "You're still being abused, aren't you?"

"Yes…" Sonic said quietly, "Please, please come. I can't take one more day of this."

"Well…alright. I'd better get a better explanation later, then."

"So you're coming?"

"I'll take off straight away."

"Well, not straight away...it's four in the morning for me."

"Oh...so in about six hours?"

"That sounds good. Thanks Tails."

"I'll see you soon."

Sonic sighed softly before hanging up and heading to his room to begin packing.

XXXXXXXXX

It was another morning in the Smasher's Base. Pit, Link, Kirby and Meta Knight were discussing on how they would be able to wait for another copy of the recording, for the first one was gone. They had called Tails yesterday, but he wasn't home and the answering machine wasn't working for some reason. The two Hands were talking about something in the kitchen, and then Master Hand came out and looked around for Sonic. He had been eating for the past few days…where was he now?

"Oh come on…look how cute he is!" Crazy followed the right hand out, leading a rockbeast, which basically was a giant turtle, "I've even picked out a name for him: Galor!"

"Fine, you can keep it. But it stays outside!"

"Hooray! You're going to love Java the Labrador-spaniel, Gabe the cobra, Lucy the sheep, Lily the hamster, Patrick the caribou…" Crazy Hand babbled on about his millions of other pets while tying a bright pink bow around his new companion's neck.

Master Hand sighed and looked up at the doorway. Sonic walked into the dining room, up to Master Hand and gave him a folded sheet of spring green paper. Master Hand could tell from the color that it was a visiting sheet; if a Brawler was going back home to visit they just wrote when they were leaving and how long they'd be gone for so Master Hand would remember and could work around them.

"So you're going home for a bit?"

Sonic nodded.

"Well, just hang on a second; I want to see if this conflicts with anything…" Master Hand unfolded the note.

**Name: **Sonic**  
Date of Departure: **Today**  
Away for: **Forever**  
Return Date: **Never

"Yeah, I would have given you something else…but there aren't any 'quitting' notes," Sonic said after a few moments. Master Hand was completely stunned.

"Sonic…you're leaving for good?" Master Hand said it a little louder than normal, and suddenly the entire room went quiet. All of the Brawlers seemed to have frozen in place. Luigi stopped his fork halfway to his mouth. Nana's teeth stayed bitten in a slice of toast. Jigglypuff was pouring herself a glass of juice, and her cup nearly ran over before she realized and put the pitcher down.

Sonic took a deep breath, "Yes, I am."

Mario then spoke up, "Why? Is it something I did? Seriously, I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you…"

Sonic turned around and said, "No, it wasn't you –"

"Was it me then, Sonic?"

"Did I hurt your feelings?"

"Dude, I'm so sorry if I did something."

Everyone began talking at once, trying to figure which one of the Brawlers made Sonic decide to leave. Finally, Sonic stomped his foot and said, "No! Not a single one of you did something to me. I just want to leave, that's all."

The room grew quiet again. Finally, out of the stillness came one voice, "Did somebody threaten to hurt you if you told? Maybe because they did something inappropriate that would ruin them?" All eyes turned to Solid Snake, who was already drinking his fourth cup of coffee, "What? I'm just putting the thought out there. You never know."

Sonic shuddered, but he looked at Snake and said, "No, nothing happened like that." His eyes began to fill slightly with tears, although he blinked them back before anyone saw, "I'll be packing if anyone needs me." Sonic fled from the room. Everyone began to eat again in the quiet. Slowly the conversation grew, but in hushed whispers and saddened tones.

"We're so stupid. We should have talked to him straight away and forced him to tell. He's probably worse off than we thought. Now he's leaving…" Kirby, usually extremely happy, grew sad and stared down at his plate. He pushed it away, no longer hungry.

"He had multiple chances to talk to us alone, and we told him as soon as we knew what was happening that we were concerned and wanted to help. We would have protected him…" Pit pushed his eggs around with his fork, but didn't take a bite.

"Maybe this is a good thing…even if Sonic leaves, we don't have to stop our search. Now we can discover who hurt him without putting him in more danger. We can't give up," Meta Knight said, trying to be slightly optimistic.

"Meta's right. I'm going to talk to Sonic now and see if he'll tell before leaving." Link left his half empty plate on the table and left the room.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic sorted through all of his trophies, and began to pack them up together. He had the ones from Subspace; from beating the 100-Man Brawl in less than two minutes…he had a lot, actually. He hadn't finished packing before because he had fallen asleep, so now he was completing the job.

Somebody knocked on his door, and Sonic called, "Come in."

Link opened the door bearing a huge box. He had been delayed coming upstairs for Master Hand had called him back to explain the idea, "Since you've decided to quit, everyone banned together to grab one of their own trophies from the Classic and All Star modes. Now you'll be able to have every single one of those trophies."

Sonic smiled, "Aw, thanks. I never knew you guys cared so much."

Link put the box down, "Yeah, we actually do care. We're sad that you're leaving, but I guess there's no changing your mind. Just remember that if you ever want to come back to the Base, the doors are always open."

"Maybe someday I'll return."

"I hope it's soon, buddy…we'll find you abuser and make them pay; I promise."

"I'm not being abused, damn it! Just go away!" Sonic glared up at Link, and seeing the elf upset, Sonic said, "Fine, stay."

"Do you need any help packing?"

"I'd like that."

Link got to work, helping pack stuff together and squish them into the suitcases. However, he made a startling discovery when Sonic dropped something coming out of the bathroom.

"Hey, you dropped –" Link took a closer look at the label. It was torn and peeling, but he was able to read a few parts of words, 'Pain…hur…ea…ual abus'.

"Sonic, what's this?"

Sonic turned around and snatched the container away from Link, "It's nothing."

"I'm pretty sure it was something. Were you actually using that stuff?"

"Just drop it; it's no big deal."

"Seriously Sonic, would you stop lying! The four of us know you're being abused and yet you keep denying it! You're not helping yourself here!" Link was actually shaking Sonic in his intensity, "You're letting some bastard get away with this and we don't even know why! We want to help you; don't you see? At least tell me why you won't tell anyone who's hurting you!"

"I wasn't touched; why would you even suggest such a thing like that?" Sonic stuffed the container inside one of his bags.

"You're in denial again! You need help, Sonic! Nobody can handle this alone."

"_I've been taking this on alone for the past sixteen days! You don't have a damn clue what you're talking about!" _"Shut up, Link. Leave me the fuck alone," Sonic said through gritted teeth.

Link didn't reply, and Sonic mumbled, "Just leave me alone." He sat down on the floor, next to one of his suitcases.

Link kneeled next to him, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. But I really want to help, and you need the help, but you won't accept it. Everyone needs help sometimes."

Sonic was completely quiet, and Link asked, "It'll be ok, but just tell me the truth…was someone here abusing you?"

Sonic's voice was barely audible, but Link heard a shaky, "Maybe."

"So now you admit it," Link whispered. Sonic shrugged.

"Who did it, Sonic?" _"Come on, just get it out!" _

Sonic bit his lip and shook his head.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"I don't have anything to say."

Link frowned slightly, but then he asked, "Were you…sexually abused, Sonic? Did it go that far?" Link was nearly positive he knew the answer now, but he wanted to hear it directly to make sure.

"N-n-no…" Sonic stuttered. He was starting to shake. _"I just can't tell Link that; I don't want to get in any more trouble!" _

"Did the person just touch you? Or did they force you to go all the way?"

Sonic didn't respond; he was simply too terrified to say a word. He had never said that much information before, regardless of how vague it was. He hugged his knees to his chest and shook with fear; the nightmares he had been locking away were slowly creeping back in.

"_I can't ask him any more questions; he's too afraid." _"It's ok …calm down…" Link hugged Sonic close as the scared hedgehog whimpered and shivered.

They stayed like that for only two minutes before the doorbell rang. Sonic stood up, making Link let go of him.

"That must be Tails. Thanks for the help, Link." Sonic's voice was free of the emotion it held before. It was like the past few minutes never occurred.

"Sure…no problem, I guess." Link grabbed a few of the bags and headed downstairs with the hedgehog. Sonic had completely changed his mood in a few seconds. Now Link was very confused.

XXXXXXXXX

"That's everything, then?" Tails asked Sonic as they were loading the plane.

"Yep, that's all," Sonic replied. Tails looked at him sadly. He wanted to know the truth, but it didn't seem like Sonic was up for talking.

"Well, then I guess this is 'goodbye'," Mario walked up to Sonic and shook his hand, "It was nice Brawling with you, Sonic. Come back to visit at least."

"Yeah, I will." Everyone came up and said their farewells, even Wario, although Sonic knew that Wario was faking.

Pit and Link were whispering to Tails off to the side, after bidding farewell to Sonic.

"He may have even been sexually abused by someone, but he won't say anything...that isn't normal for here," Pit sighed.

"Anyways, you probably have a better chance of making him talk then the rest of us. If he does tell you the truth, will you contact us so we can punish the fucker who did it?" Link asked. Then he added, "Wow, I shouldn't have said that word…"

"No big deal…I know all of that 'R-rated' stuff thanks to multiple people, so don't bother holding back. I'll try everything." Tails shook Link's hand, and then Pit's, "Nice meeting you both, and good luck in your Brawls."

After Tails turned back to the plane, Link looked at his hand. It felt like Tails had pushed something into it when they were shaking…

Opening his hand, on Link's palm was a small computer chip.

"What do you think it is?" Pit asked.

Link smiled, "Crafty fox; this must be the recording."

A few minutes later, Tails and Sonic took off. Master Hand let Sonic keep one of the pendants, just in case he decided to come back.

Up in the sky, Tails called back, "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Maybe later, Tails," Sonic replied. Tails nodded and focused on his flying, so he didn't hear Sonic mutter, "Or maybe never."

_**I'm kind of wondering how many people thought, "You bitch!" at the beginning there. Was that unnecessary to freak everybody out for a moment?**_

_**I should go ahead and mention the fact that the way this story is going I'm going to have to add some of Sonic's friends; like instead of just mentioning a name I'll have to bring them in as characters. Sorry about that, but I thought it would be better for Sonic to escape and go home, but I couldn't really send him home without him talking to his friends. I won't go into major detail, so there's no reason to panic. **_

_**Anyways, you're going to learn a shocking fact next chapter, so stick around! **_


	21. Closer to Truth Still Far from Freedom

"Come on, let's play this thing for Master Hand," Link said as he ejected the chip. They had quickly played it on Link's laptop and it was the recording after all. He had told them what Sonic had said and the cream, and now they were really concerned. The worst thing possible seemed to be the truth.

"Tails is pretty smart…how did he know to bring us another copy?" Meta Knight said as he started towards the stairs.

"Probably he was alerted when the first one was lost, like we were. I'm glad he thought of it!" Kirby leaped off of the stairwell and landed on the ground floor.

The four Brawlers made their way to Master Hand's office, "Hey, open up! We've got it!" Pit knocked on the door, "Master Hand? Are you there?"

"He practically lives in there…" Meta Knight began knocking as well, "Hello?"

The door opened slightly, and then seeing who it was Master Hand opened it all the way, "Oh, hey you guys. What do you need?"

"We've got the recording! Now we can actually do whatever we want into figuring out the truth! Ok, almost anything…but still!" Kirby trailed off when he saw around Master Hand. The room seemed dark and cold, unlike normal.

"It's nice that you guys are still up for helping, but now there's nothing we can do…" Master Hand began to shut the door, but Link pushed it open and walked in, the others following.

Master Hand shut it and flicked on the light, and then Meta Knight said, "What do you mean there's nothing we can do? Sonic's abuser is still here and we can find and expose them!"

Master Hand sighed, and then floated behind his desk, "You guys can go for it, but I'm not sure how much help I'll be."

"Hey, you're the one who can initiate anything around here and get anybody in; because Crazy Hand is technically insane…you alone can solve this!" Kirby argued.

"I can't…so many people wanted to see Sonic here and fight, and because of the whole third party deal I had to be extra careful with him to make sure he'd be safe, and I've failed. I've let myself down, I've let the rest of you Brawlers down, I've let the fans down, but most important I've let Sonic down. He's been violated and hurt and it's my fault."

"Master Hand…we can fix this! You can't give up!" Pit said, trying to get Master Hand to change his mind.

"All of you…just go. I don't want to talk right now." Master Hand went limp, meaning the conversation was over. Kirby was about to speak, but Link shook his head and the four left the room.

XXXXXXXXX

"**You've done well…and your reward shall be arriving shortly."**

Wario sent back a reply, **"I'm glad that hedgehog is gone. Will we be found out?"**

"**No, our tracks have been covered. They have no evidence, and Sonic is so disturbed he won't speak out for a good, long while…and we'll scare him into silence if he dares to try and talk…give my minion the cuff as soon as it arrives with your reward." **

"**It shall be done." **

"**The pleasure was all mine…I couldn't have done this without you. Farewell." **The screen flashed again, but this time it was dark red and sunset orange. Wario blinked a few times and stared at his screen.

"_Strange…I must have fallen asleep here or something." _Wario looked at the clock in the corner of the laptop screen, _"What? The date here says it's been three weeks…I must have screwed up the clock…" _Wario changed it back, _"There we go." _

That's when he noticed the cuff sitting beside him on his desk. He picked it up, _"I kind of remember this thing…oh yeah, it was a stupid pop up and this thing flashed on the screen. What is it doing here?" _Wario looked around, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary put the anklet in his pocket and went downstairs.

Everyone seemed upset; nobody was smiling or planning any Brawls. Wario looked from face to face. You would think somebody had died…

"What's everyone so down about?" Wario asked Bowser as he walked past, "What happened?"

"Did you lose your mind or something? Sonic's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"He left Smash Bros. forever this morning, you idiot. He's been upset for some time… where were you for the past two weeks; on the moon?"

"What day is it?" Wario asked. Now he was confused…

"It's Friday; duh!" Bowser was tired of answering such stupid questions and walked away.

It was Friday? But Wario only recalled it being Sunday! Maybe he really _did_ fall asleep for three weeks! But if that was so, why hadn't anyone noticed? And he would have starved to death after that long…

"Hmm…" Wario muttered out loud, and pulled the cuff out of his pocket, "I bet you have something to do with this, don't you?"

The cuff glinted back at him evilly in the light, but of course made no response.

Wario stared at the anklet for a full ten minutes. He whispered, "You did this, I bet. You must have had something to do with Sonic leaving." He twisted it around, looking at it from every angle, "But I wonder what you do."

XXXXXXXXX

"What now guys?" Pit's wings were folded against his sides in sadness, "Master Hand is so upset about Sonic leaving that he won't help us…" The four Brawlers had returned to Pit's room to talk.

"I say we search Sonic's room for clues. His abuser must have left some traces that both of them missed…" Kirby said.

"But how will we get in? We don't have the card key, and I don't know if Master Hand will give us the spare…" Link replied.

"Don't worry about that. I've got it." The four Brawlers turned to see Pikachu standing in front of the closed door. He must have slipped in while they were talking. Pikachu held up the card in his right hand.

"When did you get here?" Meta Knight asked.

"Like, a minute ago? I thought the same thing; checking out Sonic's room…and I heard you guys were trying to figure what was happening as well."

"Were you _spying_ on us?" Link asked.

Pikachu nodded, "I owe that hedgehog my life…I would have died that night if it wasn't for him. So I've been eavesdropping a little. I'm so small that most people don't notice me, so it's easy for me to sneak." True enough; most newcomers thought Pikachu was an easy fight, and they quickly learned that their assumption was dead wrong.

"The more the merrier, I guess. It's not like you've done anything to him; if you did, Sonic probably would have let you fall," Pit said. The others agreed.

"Alright then, let's go…and hopefully you guys can update me on what's been happening with the fastest hedgehog in the world."

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic's eyes slowly opened, and he peered around the room. Lifting himself up on his left elbow, he could see that he was in his bedroom – well, not really his bedroom. Most of the time he slept outside, but when it was cold, wet or he was too injured to move, he stayed in Tails' house. Tails had given the room to Sonic, even though the blue hedgehog rarely slept in it.

"It's about time you woke up. Welcome back to the world of the living." Sonic flipped half over so he was resting on both elbows to see the familiar fox staring at him from the doorway.

"Hey Tails…long time no see."

"You fell asleep while I was flying back so I called Knuckles. Knuckles carried you inside, while I helped to unload your stuff. You've lost a few pounds, you know…do you Smashers not have the time to sleep or eat, let alone reply to your friend's messages?"

"Sorry, I've been busy lately…"

"Excuses, excuses…are you hungry?"

"I'm starving." Sonic followed Tails downstairs into the kitchen.

"Look, I know you've just returned from the Base…but we really need to talk," Tails said after he placed a chili dog in front of Sonic.

Sonic's hand shook while he reached for a glass of juice, "Tails, I really don't want to talk about it right now…"

"It's not about…you know…it's about something else."

"What, then?"

Tails sighed and took a seat, "While you were sleeping, you were muttering and thrashing back and forth. You were pretty disturbed…like you were having a horrible nightmare or something."

Sonic went pale for a second before asking, "Did I actually say anything?"

"Nope, just nonsense; but you sounded scared."

"Huh…I don't remember my dream." That was a lie; Sonic fully well remembered the dream. It must have been the eighth or ninth time when Wario came…he –

Sonic's thoughts were interrupted by Tails shaking his shoulder, "Hello, anybody home…?"

"What?"

"You just spaced out right then…are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure…" Sonic began eating, taking quick bites.

"Please Sonic, tell me the truth. You know I'll always stand by your side, no matter what happens."

"I know, but…I'm not ready. Later I will."

Tails looked at Sonic, his blue eyes hopeful, "Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Alright," Tails sighed, "I'll let it go for now. Check in my workshop if you need me, ok?" Sonic nodded.

Once he was gone, Sonic let his head drop into his hands. How could he ever tell Tails he had been raped? He was young, yes, but he was smart. He probably knew enough about the topic anyways to understand…

"_I can't do it. Everybody here looks up to me, and I just can't let them down. Now that Wario's gone, I'm sure I'll be able to snap out of this state of depression I've fallen into. Surely I will." _

XXXXXXXXX

Pikachu swiped the card through the slot and opened the door to Sonic's bedroom. It was sadly empty now; the bed was just a mattress and there were no pictures on the walls. Nothing showed whose bedroom this once was. It hadn't been cleaned yet or had any plans been made on cleaning it; no one could stand the fact of clearing out a now-empty bedroom…

The four Brawlers quickly explained what they knew about Sonic, and Pikachu agreed to keep their work a secret. "Let's spread out and see if we can find anything that will help," Kirby said. The others nodded.

"I'll check the bathroom," Pikachu said.

"I'll come with you," Meta Knight added.

The other three began scanning the room. Link opened the closet and moved his hands around the bare shelves, checking to see if there was anything in the back. Kirby looked through the drawers in Sonic's desk, and Pit looked over the bed.

From the top it looked alright. There was a spot of blood on the mattress, but that probably was from a nosebleed or something of the sort; Pit's mattress also held some stains from injuries and snacks. Seeing nothing extremely unusual, Pit rubbed his hand along the headboard. Once again, he found nothing. There was no board at the end of the bed, so Pit decided to duck under to see if anything was there.

There were dust bunnies, a blue pen and one of the game pieces from _Life_. Also underneath the bed was a nickel, crumbs from something, a rubber bouncy Easter egg from the Easter Hunt and a small paper ball.

Pit grabbed the ball, and still on his stomach half underneath the bed he unfolded it. It was just a bunch of little reminders written on sticky notes and then attached to the page, each with their own date. Most of them were from before the abuse should have begun, but there were three that definitely came after:

May 22: Get more aspirin

May 29: Needing more stain remover

June 4: Pills now in drawer

The first was common among Brawlers, and the last probably was some sort of medication Sonic had been taking. It was the second one that had Pit confused: stain remover, of all things? What would Sonic need with that?

"Pit, did you find something?" The voice made Pit look up and he smacked his head on the bed frame.

"Ow…fuck…" Pit crawled out from underneath and rubbed his now aching head, "Thanks Link, now I'm in pain…"

"Oops, sorry…" Link moved Pit's laurel wreath so it was straight again, "What did you find?"

"Regular stuff, and then these notes…" Pit pointed to the one on May 29th, "What would Sonic want stain remover for?"

"No clue…" Link shrugged.

"Hey guys, check this out!" Kirby waved the other two over to the desk. Kirby pulled out the phone cord, "Look at this! Somebody destroyed it, probably to keep Sonic from making any more calls!" The cord looked like someone had cut through it.

"No wonder Tails couldn't reach Sonic; this phone is useless." Link sighed.

"We've found something interesting as well." Meta Knight motioned the other three to enter the bathroom. The floor and lower tiles of the wall was a deep ocean blue, while the rest was white. Turquoise accented the rest of the room.

Pikachu was standing in the shower, and he pointed up at the dispenser, "This thing is almost empty, and it should have been filled at the beginning of the month. That was only a week ago. He's been using a lot of body products…"

"That's not all; look at this." Meta Knight jumped into the Jacuzzi bathtub next to the shower, "All of the soap here has been used as well. Sonic must have had really wanted to get clean…" Meta Knight suddenly ended the sentence.

"Are you ok, Meta Knight?" Link asked.

Meta Knight swallowed slightly and then said, "I just remembered something: rape victims often have an obsession to wash, because they feel so dirty about it…"

"Please, couldn't anything else could happen to Sonic, anything but this…" Pit bit his lip and scanned the bathroom as well.

"Everything seems to point to the fact he was…you know…raped…" Pikachu rubbed his tail nervously.

"But he never came out with it…" Link trailed off.

It was quiet for a few moments, and then Kirby waved the paper in the air, "I think I've figured this note out!"

"What are you talking about?" Meta Knight asked.

"The note about the stain remover…if Sonic was raped, maybe there was something left behind on his bed, and he would need to hide it somehow. Even if the laundry is done by machine, someone might spot the evidence before it's washed away and get suspicious."

"You think there could be evidence on his laundry?" Pit asked.

"Do you have any other explanation?"

"Nope…so let's check it out this evening," Pikachu said, shutting the shower door, "The arena is fixed now, and we should get some Brawls going. Besides, the laundry should be washing right now, and I hate how loud it gets down there."

XXXXXXXXX

"_**Hey Sonic, are you still there?" Lucario was knocking on his bedroom door. **_

"_**Oh shit, oh shit…" Sonic whispered, panicking; scrubbing as hard as he could. This was the last of his sheet sets, so he hadn't changed it for three days…now the stain was so bad, he was rubbing it furiously and it wouldn't go away. **_

"_**Come on, come on; disappear already!" Sonic wiped off the excess stain remover and squeezed the bottle again. He grabbed the cap with the little brush and began to grind the gel into the fabric. **_

"_**Are you chickening out of our battle, or what?"**_

"_**I'm coming…just hold on!" Sonic put the cap on the bottle and sighed. While the stain wasn't as noticeable as before, it was still quite easy to tell what it was up close. Well, at least it would disappear in the wash. So all of the evidence was hidden…Sonic made sure to carefully fold up the sheets so the wet blotch in the middle wasn't visible. **_

"_**So there you are! Stripping your bed, then?"**_

"_**Yeah…stupid thing was caught underneath the mattress. That's why it took me so long." **_

"_**I see…well, I'm glad you're alive and well. I'll meet you at the arena after breakfast." Lucario went in one direction while Sonic went to the laundry hamper. He shivered slightly while stuffing the sheets down the chute, Lucario's words hitting closer to home than the Pokémon knew. **_

XXXXXXXXX

Tails sighed and rubbed the hedgehog's side to wake him up. He had basically slept the day away, "Sonic, quit moping around. What's with you?"

The sapphire blue hedgehog lazily opened one eye. He was lying stomach down on Tails' couch with one arm draped off, and one leg slowly slipping.

"Don't you want to go for a run or something?"

"Don't feel like it," Sonic muttered, and he rolled over to face the back.

"I haven't told anyone about the abuse…but I will if you don't tell me…"

"I don't want to talk about it right now." Sonic curled into a ball.

"When do you _want _to talk about it? Maybe you will in an hour, a day, a _year_?"

"Go away, Tails," Sonic growled, "You said you'd let this drop for now."

"I'm really worried about you; this is so far off from normal I'm scared that something will happen if you keep everything locked inside. So I'm not letting this go until you tell me the truth."

"I said fuck off!" Sonic snapped. He rolled over just in time to see Tails glare at him with anger and leave the room.

Sonic sat up and stared at his friend's retreating back. He had never, _ever_ spoken to Tails that way. He quickly got up and chased after his friend, "Tails, I'm so sorry…"

"Go away, Sonic," Tails replied in the same tone Sonic had earlier.

"I didn't mean to –"

"I said fuck off!" Tails glared at Sonic one more time before heading down to his lab, slamming the door behind him.

Sonic slowly walked back to the couch and sat down, feeling horrible, _"Great, because of my attitude I've got Tails swearing and hating me…but I can't make myself tell him the truth…is there anybody I can tell?" _

XXXXXXXXX

"I hate going down here; it's filled with so many creepy things…" Kirby said as he was walking down the stairs to the laundry room.

"Are you scared of a bunch of spiders and bugs? Poor little Kirby…" Meta Knight mocked back.

"Actually, it's just those costumes that scare me…" Kirby shuddered.

Meta Knight stopped in his tracks at the memory, "Damn it, now _I'm_ scared to go down there…"

"Move it, soldiers!" Pikachu said sarcastically as he hopped over the pair and made his way down. The two puffballs looked at each other and then followed.

The laundry was still going through the machines and coming out perfectly dried, folded and clean; although since it was drying and not washing, it was pretty quiet. Luckily, yesterday's laundry was still to be done.

"Ok, let's see if we can find Sonic's stuff…" Link looked up at the huge pile, "We're screwed."

"Well, all of his sheets are going to be blue, most likely, right? So we look for blue!" Pit began pawing his way through the tower, and the others began to dig as well.

It took a good half hour of searching before Pikachu called, "Found it!"

"How can you be so sure?" Meta Knight asked.

Pikachu pulled out a blue sheet with a look on his face that was a combination of sorrow and disgust. He turned the cloth slightly so everyone else could see the stain, "With this, how could you go wrong?"

The stain was dried semen, mixed with blood.

"Oh no…" Link whispered, taking a corner of the sheet. It looked like it already had been scrubbed before to make the stain less noticeable.

"Well, this is it. Now we just need to figure out who did it…" Meta Knight said quietly.

The five Brawlers were completely stunned. They had known before that Sonic could have been raped, but it wasn't until now that their fears were confirmed. They were all speaking in hushed tones, even though there was no reason to.

"Do you guys think that maybe this has been going on from the start?" Kirby asked.

"I think so…it would make sense. No wonder Sonic left; I would have disappeared A.S.A.P if this was happening to me," Pikachu slumped against the pile of laundry.

"So what do we do now?" Pit asked.

"We do some DNA testing." Everyone looked at Meta Knight, who then explained, "One time I was traveling and I met a researcher on DNA, and I have her phone number. All we have to do is collect samples from everyone and send them along with the sheet. I'm sure she will help us."

"Aw, does the noble knight have a lady friend?" Pikachu scrambled out of the way before Meta Knight could grab him.

"Very funny, mouse…"

"Hey!" Pikachu tried to kick Meta Knight, who had grabbed his tail.

"Stop it, you two. Your idea sounds great, Meta Knight, but we can't just go up to someone and say, 'Do you mind giving us a few hairs? It's for no particular reason at all…ok thanks bye!'" Pit said sarcastically.

"I wasn't saying we do that! We just have to be…crafty...in the way we collect the samples." Meta Knight let go of Pikachu, who promptly hid.

"And I guess we should send our own off as well, just in case someone asks about it later?" Kirby asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Pikachu said, crawling out from underneath a shelf.

"Then all we have to do is divide up the Brawlers we each take and set this into motion," Link said.

XXXXXXXXX

Even when Tails came up later, he didn't speak of the abuse for the rest of the day, although the thoughts stood between them like a fog. Shortly after ten, Sonic went to bed. He actually had packed the knife from the Base and hidden it; luckily Tails hadn't found it. He made a few more cuts on his wrists, cursing himself for doing so. At the least the pain made it easier to fall asleep; although his sleep was anything but peaceful.

"_Come here, Sonic. You like that, don't you? You're so tight…good hedgehog; good boy…I'm going to fuck you real good…" _

Sonic's eyes snapped open and he looked around the room. The clock read 12:19; the time when Wario usually came in. He shivered, waiting for the door to open, waiting for the nightmare to begin all over again…but there was nothing.

He knew Wario wasn't here and couldn't touch him, but Sonic was still scared. He was safe and wouldn't have to live through the torture again…at least physically.

Mentally, Sonic was still back at the Base, feeling the same pain as he had before leaving; trying to hide his feelings and endure the abuse. A small part was still convinced that at any moment, Wario was going to walk in and touch him again. Sonic kept his eyes on the door, waiting…the waiting was hard. It was like Wario was messing with him and waiting for Sonic to fall into a false sense of security before punishing him.

Sonic was chewing on the edge of his pillow in fear, still staring at the door, _"I really can't get away. Even here I'm not safe. He's going to hurt me somehow; he'll find me…Wario gets me through my dreams and thoughts. I'm still his no matter where I am. My demon won't let me go." _


	22. Complete Confusion

"_Don't be an idiot, Sonic. Just tell him!" _Sonic was pacing back and forth in his room, debating on whether or not to tell Tails the truth.

"_It's three little words; 'I was raped'. Just three small words and everything will get better! Tell him!" _

"_He won't believe you. Nobody would believe this; they'd think you deserved it. Take the punishment." _

"_This isn't your fault! You need help! Go talk to him!" _

Sonic turned and went to the door. He only got his hand on the doorknob before he pulled back and whispered, "I can't. I just can't!"

He crawled back into bed and closed his eyes. Maybe he could get some sleep, after that awful night…he was up shivering until dawn, and now he was exhausted. Would it always be like this?

XXXXXXXXX

"Alright, let's make sure we've got this straight. I'm taking Snake, Lucario, Yoshi and Wolf. Kirby's got Mario, Fox, Falco and Ike. Pikachu has Luigi, Popo, Red and Olimar. Link is after Bowser, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong and King Dedede, and finally Pit has Marth, Wario, Ganondorf and Sonic," Meta Knight read off the list. Earlier that morning they had decided on who was taking who, and now were taking their own samples.

"I think so…hey, easy on the scissors, Pit! I have very thin skin!" Kirby whirled around to face Pit; nearly making the angel cut him again.

"Well, sorry! It's not my fault you're all squish with little hair…" Pit brought the scissors close again, and finally was able to get another tiny snip of the light hairs that covered Kirby's body, "There, done."

"Good…you're next, angel-boy!" Kirby grabbed the scissors, "Snip, snip, snip…"

"Ok, I don't want you cutting my hair!"

"I'll do it," Link said, and he took the scissors away from Kirby, who pouted good- naturedly. A small cut produced a good enough sample without showing that the hair was gone.

"Alright…thanks, Link."

"Hello? Did anybody hear me?" Meta Knight asked, rolling his eyes.

"I did, and you've got it," Pikachu replied, putting Pit's DNA sample with the others from them.

"Yoshi is a strange case; I've heard of Yoshis being able to breed with other species, but…are you sure Red's Pokémon couldn't have done anything?" Meta Knight looked up at Pikachu while he ripped the list into strips.

"I told you already; Pokémon may only be attracted to other Pokémon. While it doesn't have to be the same species, like two Chikorita's or something, it does have to be another Pokémon. Long story short; they couldn't have done anything."

"But with you, Lucario and Jigglypuff…"

"Well, Jigglypuff's out regardless because she's a girl. As for me and Lucario, because we speak human…you know…we gained other human qualities too…personally I don't think he did it."

"Yeah, I know; but right now everyone's a suspect. I'm going after Snake right now; I heard he was joining a few others swimming. It should be easy to find something."

"I'll take Luigi on in a match, and see what I can do…" Pikachu took his slip of paper and then scampered off to find a fight.

"I'll check out Sonic's room first. I hope nobody has gotten around to cleaning it yet…" Pit followed the others out to begin the search.

XXXXXXXXX

The room was still empty and unkempt; Pit was in luck. It didn't take long to find one of Sonic's quills; there was a small one in the mattress. Pit shuddered after he pulled it out, just thinking about what had occurred on that bed.

So that was one down and three to go; of course, Sonic was the easy one. Pit heard somebody in Marth's room, so there was no point in checking it out. Wario's room, however, was closed but unlocked, so Pit quickly made sure nobody was looking and then slipped inside. The room was very dark; blackout curtains had been pulled over the windows, so even though it was ten in the morning and sunny outside, the room was nearly lightless.

What little light there was came from one of three sources; a digital clock, the bits of sunlight the curtains couldn't cover and a small, almost circular object sitting on the desk. Pit walked over and picked it up; it was a metal cuff. It had a ton of flashing buttons and screens on it, flickering in many colors. He looked at the cuff from all angles, but since he didn't want to hit a button and set an alarm off or something, he put it back down. Besides, who knows what it does anyway? Probably some random treasure Wario had found.

Pit focused his thoughts on his hand and made a ball of glowing light appear, just enough for him to see. The light illuminated a plate of old pasta over by the bed; multiple hairs were caught in the now dried melted cheese. Gross, but it would do. Pit flipped a sandwich bag inside out, put it on his hand and then plucked the hairs out of the meal. He then sealed the bag up and let the glow from his hand dissolve. He could see the doorway from where he was standing anyways; he had left it slightly open.

Footsteps coming down the hall alerted Pit. Was it Wario? He couldn't check; you could see clearly from one end of the hallway to the other, so he would be spotted. He immediately moved to the window and tried to open it, but it was locked and he didn't have time to turn the handle and open it to sneak out. Pit looked back and forth, trying to find a place to hide. Finally he slipped under the bed, just in time to hear Wario come in.

Pit moved slightly back towards the wall on his stomach; careful to keep his wings folded in. He had to push many objects out of his way; hopefully Wario wouldn't notice.

"It's June, for crying out loud…I only remember it being May…" Wario muttered.

"_What?" _Pit thought. He moved a sweater slightly to the side so he could see. About five feet away, sitting at the desk and holding the cuff was Wario, looking at it intently.

"What is this thing? I can't remember…oh, maybe I'm crazy. It's just memory loss…" Wario put the cuff down and walked towards the windows. The room suddenly became lighter; Pit knew that Wario had opened the curtains. He moved the sweater back so he wouldn't be seen.

For the next hour Pit stayed huddled under the bed while Wario was talking to himself and doing something in the room; what, though, Pit couldn't see. His muscles were beginning to cramp up and his wings were sore from having them folded tightly for so long. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the lunch bell rang, and Wario left the room. Pit silently counted to a hundred and then crawled out. After stretching, he went to take a look at the cuff again. It still looked the same with its multi-colored flashing lights, but when Pit picked it up this time a mild jolt flashed through him. Afterwards, however, there was nothing, so Pit simply set it back down and then headed downstairs.

XXXXXXXXX

"I've gotten two so far. How about you guys?" Pikachu whispered. The five were sharing a table and information, keeping an eye on those who walked by.

"Two for me as well," Pit whispered back; taking another bite of his salad.

"Only one," Kirby sighed, "Fox and Falco are going for the 'Insane' level in the Boss Battles together, and Ike has been basically impossible to get alone today. For Mario, though, it was easy enough…"

"How did you manage that? Usually somebody is always around him…" Meta Knight asked.

"Simple," Kirby replied, "I just waited for him on the stairwell above, sucking on a lollipop, and when he walked underneath I 'dropped' it. Then I helped him to cut it out and got hairs in the process."

"Crafty," Meta Knight replied, and everybody laughed softly.

"Too bad my candy was ruined…but still; only one!"

"I've only gotten one as well, Kirby, so don't feel bad," Link replied, patting the puffball on the head.

"I never realized how rarely people are alone around here; I haven't gotten anybody yet. I forgot that Snake really is trained in not leaving any evidence behind…" Meta Knight sighed and went to get another muffin.

"Ok, we're actually doing pretty well so far today. I've got three Brawls this afternoon; one with the Ice Climbers, but that's it for suspects. Afterwards, though, I'll head back to work," Pikachu said when Meta Knight came back.

Meta Knight swallowed a mouthful and replied, "You like to fight, don't you?"

"What? I think it's fun! Wait, it's nearly one in the afternoon now…yikes, only five minutes until my match! See you guys later!" Pikachu quickly put his dishes away and then raced out of the room.

"Remember now; everyone meets in Link's room at one-thirty tonight. Then we can judge how far we've gotten in our investigation," Kirby said, and placed his plate on top of Pikachu's before heading over to Ike to ask to Brawl.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey, come on Sonic…don't I at least get a, 'Hello'?"

Sonic blinked a little, taking some time to recognize the echidna standing next to him, "Oh, hi Knuckles," Sonic muttered. He simply took another cookie and bit into it.

"Wow, that was enthusiastic," Knuckles said sarcastically, and he took a seat beside Sonic at the table, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sonic replied, not even looking at his friend. _"Tell him the truth! Say the three words! SAY THEM!" _

"You don't look alright. Why didn't you talk to any of us for the past two weeks?"

"I was busy."

"Really…is that why you quit Super Smash Brothers?"

"Sure, why not."

"That sure sounded like a real excuse."

"Oh, just fuck off," Sonic moaned, putting his head on the table.

Knuckles gave Sonic a strange look, "Did I do something wrong there?"

"Yeah…you think there's something wrong with me; well guess what, there isn't anything wrong with me! So stop bothering me and let me live in peace!" Sonic's words were muffled, but Knuckles could still understand what he said.

"Sonic," Knuckles sighed, "Tails told me you left because somebody was abusing you. I can easily see something's not quite right with you –"

"There is nothing wrong with me! Fuck off!" Sonic moved so quickly that Knuckles didn't have time to react before his chair was pushed over.

"Ouch…I was just trying to help!" Knuckles rubbed his head, which hurt now from hitting the floor.

"I don't need your help! I don't need anybody's help! Leave me alone!" Sonic immediately dashed upstairs and into his room.

"Wow," Knuckles sat on the floor, confused, "You're right, Tails; he really is like an opposite Sonic." Tails came into the room and then sat down next to Knuckles.

"I know," Tails sighed, "All he does is sleep and lie around like a fur rug. I barely get him to eat, and most of the time he just stays in his room, not speaking at all; he doesn't even seem to notice me when I come in. Whenever I do get him to speak, though, he just yells at me to leave him alone."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't have luck with him either."

"I'm not surprised…maybe I should call someone else?"

"I don't know; if he won't speak with us, I don't think he'll want to talk to anybody else."

"That's one bad thing about Sonic; he hates admitting his mistakes."

XXXXXXXXX

"_You're a complete fucking idiot! It was three fucking words! Knuckles and Tails want to help, but you just push them away! You only let the one who hurts you close! You stupid – oh look, now you're cutting yourself again! For crying out loud; you substitute a knife for words. Pain doesn't heal you; it only causes you more pain. Yeah, sure, ignore your common sense and just go to bed to mope. But wait, you have to clean up the evidence so nobody knows you're a cutter, don't you? You have to tell somebody at some point! It's not hard!_

"_At least, it's easier than keeping it all locked up inside." _

XXXXXXXXX

Pit slipped off his sandals and then stepped into the shower. He shut the door and turned the knob until it was a nice temperature before reaching for the soap. Pit's shower was wider than normal so he could stretch his wings; making them easier to clean.

"_Ok, I still only have two out of four, but I'm Brawling with Marth tomorrow. All I'll have to do is grab him and then snatch a hair or two…shouldn't be too bad. But Ganondorf with all of his darkness isn't a huge fan of angels…he'll be tough." _He watched a loose feather from one of his wings get sucked down the drain. It was time to wash his wings, then.

Pit worked up lather on his left wing, and then turned around to rinse it off. The hot water trickled down his back, calming him and making the angel sleepy. It was only midnight, so there were another one and a half hours before everyone would meet together to find out how they were doing with the sample collecting. Hopefully someone got more done this afternoon.

"_Wow, I'm tired…I'll sleep in tomorrow…" _Pit began nodding off slightly in the shower, but then he felt something like a hand touch his right shoulder.

Pit whirled around, but there wasn't anybody; just the shower head spurting water and the shelf holding the soap and other bath stuff. It must be his imagination, then. At least it had jolted him awake.

Pit began on his right wing, but while he was scrubbing he thought he saw a shadow through the sky-blue bubble glass door. But the question was could the shadow see him?

"Ok, I'm just being stupid," Pit muttered. The handle was right by his side; he pushed the shower door open. The lights were on, the mirror was foggy, and the room was steamy. But it was all bright and cheerful; nothing at all resembled a shadow. The water began to pool outside the shower, soaking the bathmat. Pit looked around the silver and blue bathroom again, and then pulled the door shut.

"My mind seems to be playing tricks on me. Maybe I'll go early to the meeting and take a nap there. Link can wake me up when we're ready…" No sooner did he finish the sentence than he felt somebody tap the space between his wings, lightly tickling all the way down his back.

Pit turned around again, but of course there wasn't anyone. The shower door was like a regular door, and opened on hinges. He was standing next to the handle, so somebody couldn't have gotten in without walking right into the angel.

"It was just water," Pit muttered, "Just water." He faced the flow of water once again, and was going to reach for the shampoo when he felt a hand hit him hard on his rear.

Now there was _no_ possible way for him to have imagined that.

Pit twirled again, but there still wasn't anybody, "Alright, I'm getting annoyed here. Show yourself!" There was no sound but his voice and the running water. Pit growled slightly, and after rinsing his wing he moved to shut off the shower.

Suddenly, somebody grabbed the angel from behind, pulling him close to a body behind him. They laced one limb around Pit's midsection, holding his wings and arms captive. The other slapped over Pit's mouth before he could even make a sound.

"Hello, pretty little angel…did I take you by surprise?" The shadow laughed; he had an almost seductive voice. Pit tried to turn his head so he could at least see who was holding him hostage, but the hand on his mouth kept him from moving.

Pit blinked the water away from his eyes and began to struggle, but it was impossible to move; whoever he was, he was strong. Pit couldn't even get a grip on the wet tiled floor of the shower to help him break free. Who was he anyways; maybe one of Medusa's minions, like a succubus? No, that didn't make sense; every succubus he had ever encountered was female. This definitely was a masculine voice, and the person was fully clothed, although that thought really didn't comfort Pit very much.

The stranger moved his hand lower until it was on Pit's hips, still holding his arms down. He pulled the confused angel closer, keeping his wings trapped as well.

"You know who you remind me of? Cupid…" The figure chuckled while Pit growled in frustration, still trying to break free. "For three reasons; first off, you're an angel, secondly, you're naked, and third, you're sexy. Although Cupid really isn't sexy; but he is the symbol for love…maybe you'll be good to make love to?" Pit flinched when he felt a hand squeeze his rear.

"_What the fuck; a third arm? Who the hell is this guy?" _

"Come on now, Cupid…time to lose your virginity, isn't it? Or do you angels have to remain pure?" In one quick instant the stranger flipped Pit around and pushed him against the wall of the shower that was opposite the door. Now Pit's hands were being held behind his back, successfully pinning his wings in the process. Another one of the figure's hands was still holding Pit's mouth closed and forcing his head against the wall so he couldn't see anything. The hand holding his wrists in place were pushing him against the wall at such an angle that he was slipping constantly on the wet floor; the only thing really holding him up was the figure's pressure on his back.

The other hand was rubbing Pit's rear, slapping it, and then rubbing it again. Pit continued to struggle, but it was impossible for him to keep his footing, so he couldn't even kick his captor away. There was no way to fight back. But if Pit didn't break free soon, this freak was going to rape him!

"Such an adorable little cherub, aren't you? Just trying to get away from me…well, that hedgehog couldn't get away from my minion here, and I'm stronger than him; you can't get away from me."

Pit could almost feel the fire rush through his veins. This bastard knew who raped Sonic! He had to defeat this guy and make him tell the truth!

"Are you ready to be fucked, angel?" Pit barely registered the words, but instead stopped trying to stand. The stranger was startled that Pit was no longer struggling, and he had to loosen his grip for a moment to move Pit higher up. That slight moment was all Pit needed for him to get his footing and deliver a swift kick to his captor's groin. The pain made the shadow let go of Pit.

"Fuck! Why you little…" But Pit had already opened the shower door and snatched up his bow. Out of habit, Pit always had his bow ready to summon, although he usually didn't have it the bathroom with him. He was just so tired earlier he had forgotten. He quickly rolled out of the shadow's reach and came up on one knee. In half a millisecond he had an arrow armed and ready.

"Who raped Sonic? Tell me or I'll shoot you!" Now Pit could see who had been holding onto him…ok, not really. The figure looked humanoid enough; a little less than six feet tall. But he was covered in a dark cloak, and only the bottoms of blue and white boots showed. Earlier the figure's clothing must have been touching Pit's back, but he must have pulled the cloak closed again after Pit kicked him. He couldn't see three arms either; only two. It was very odd.

"Now then, angel, let's be reasonable…" The figure held up one gloved hand, "No need for violence…"

"This is your last warning, you fucking bastard. Who – raped – Sonic?"

"Alright, I'll tell you…" Pit could almost feel the figure grin under the cloak, "I did it, yet I didn't do it. However, Sonic has something that will show you who did the crime. Things aren't always as simple as they appear to be." In a puff of black smoke, the figure vanished.

Pit's eyes narrowed at the strange answer, but he simply stood up and disarmed his bow. He leaned it against the wall and was going to get a towel from under the counter when somebody wrapped their arms around his waist. This time Pit was already on his guard, so he reached behind, grabbed the figure's cloak and shirt and threw the guy over his head.

The shadow landed in the still-running shower with a loud thump, and Pit picked up his bow and fled the room. Without thinking he backed into the hallway, right into somebody.

"Pit…uh…why are you naked?" Whoops; this was awkward. Pit turned around slightly and saw that he had walked into Ike. He was holding a glass of soda in his hand and he was wearing his cloak, but dressed in pajamas. At least he was the only one around; otherwise it could have been much worse.

"Somebody, no something, attacked me while I was taking a shower. I think he wanted to rape me…I couldn't fight the guy, so I kind of just backed out here…"

"Are you serious? Wow…" Ike took off his cloak and wrapped it around Pit to cover him up, "Show me."

XXXXXXXXX

"Well, nobody's here right now." Ike had Pit show him the bathroom, and Pit explained what happened, except he didn't speak of the figure mentioning Sonic's rape; like he replaced the part of 'Who raped Sonic' with 'Who are you'.

"I know I wasn't seeing things. I felt his hands all over my body." Pit had given Ike's cloak back and had wrapped himself in a towel. The shower had still been running, but Pit turned if off; a nice little puddle had gathered outside of the door.

The bathroom fan was on, helping to clear the air in the room, "Well Pit, I don't see anybody…maybe your imagination is working overtime."

Pit turned to face Ike, and he caught a glimpse of the foggy mirror, "Oh yeah? Well, look at that."

Ike turned to look at what Pit was pointing at and stared in shock. The fan had made some strange marks appear on the mirror. Somebody had written in the moisture, 'Stay out of this, angel, or you'll become like him.' Underneath were a handprint and a signature of some sort.

"Oh my…" Ike moved closer and examined the writing, "Did you do this?"

"No way…" Pit placed his right hand inside of the handprint, and the print was a good centimeter bigger than his own hand, "I didn't do this."

Ike looked at the handprint, and he could see that Pit couldn't have done it – somebody had only touched the mirror in that place once, and Pit's hands were too small. So he wasn't joking around.

"What's he talking about?" Ike asked.

Pit quickly lied, "Palutena sent me a message earlier today, talking about another captain who had gone to check out the Underworld, but vanished. His last message was about some kind of strange gem…she might want me to go check it out. I guess whoever owns the gem isn't too happy about that idea…"

"Yikes! You'd better talk to your goddess about this. Maybe the shadow raped the other guy...I don't want that happening to you!"

"You're right…I'll do that straight away. But first, I want to look at the signature…looks kind of like a 'M'."

"Sort of," Ike replied, taking a look as well, "But it's so squished; it could even be a 'T', an 'A' or an 'H'. Let's classify it as a letter."

"Well, that's useful," Pit sighed, "But I don't think we could copy it, anyways…I'll try to describe it to Palutena tomorrow."

"Pit, don't take offense here about your skills or anything, but…do you think it's safe for you to sleep alone tonight? What if he comes back?"

A knock on the door interrupted Pit before he could reply. The angel left the bathroom, still hugging the towel around his waist and opened the door.

"Hey Pit, we're waiting for you so we can start –" Link trailed off once he saw Ike behind the angel, "So we can start our tournament."

"You guys are having a tournament at night?" Ike asked, confused.

"Yeah, a MarioKart tournament…we'd ask you to join, but –"

"Forget it; I'm not terribly good at that game and I need to catch up on my sleep. Anyways, what are you going to do about tonight, Pit?"

Link flashed Pit a look and Pit quickly mouthed back, 'I'll explain later.' Pit turned to Ike and replied, "I can just sleep in Link's room tonight, after the races. You won't mind, would you Link?"

"Uh…no, I won't."

"I'm glad that's solved, then. Goodnight you two; and good luck in the races!" Ike picked up his glass, and with a small wave left the room.

Pit motioned for Link to come in and after shutting the door left to get dressed. "What's going on here?" Link asked, confused.

"I was attacked by somebody while having a shower, and they wanted to rape me," Pit called from the bathroom, "They also said they knew who raped Sonic." He came out of the bathroom now, in pajamas.

"What…? They didn't…"

"Didn't what? Rape me? No. Molest me? Yes. Were serious? Yes to that as well."

"But you didn't get the name of the Brawler?"

"I didn't get any real information," Pit sighed, "All I know is that this guy has an ally here who did it."

"So we're on the right track?"

"I guess so."

XXXXXXXXX

When Pit and Link walked in, the first thing was Pikachu asking, "What happened?"

Pit explained the story all over again for the third time, and everybody was shocked. "So the Brawler here wasn't alone? This was a group effort to get rid of Sonic?" Kirby asked.

"You don't think they…gang raped him…did they?" Meta Knight shuddered at the thought.

"I don't think so. The guy said he only knew who did it; he actually didn't do the deed. But there is a contact here who knows; we just have to find them," Pit sighed.

"Maybe that shadow was the one that poisoned Sonic…if this was a group effort, maybe some wanted him dead and others just wanted to rape him…oh, I don't know! This gets more confusing by the minute…the sooner we figure this out, the better!" Kirby leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Well, I managed to get Wolf and Yoshi today, so two for me. What about you, Pikachu?" Meta Knight asked.

"Three out of four…"

"I've gotten two out of four as well; still no luck with Fox and Falco. What about you two?" Kirby asked the last members.

"Two out of four; no difference for me…Link?"

"Two out of four too…this is pretty good for one day."

"Alright…anyone have an idea where to keep these?" Pit asked, holding out his two bags.

"I do." Pikachu ran out of Link's room, and then came back holding a little Pokéball. He opened it; it actually was a small box.

"Clever," Kirby said. After labeling each sample, they dropped the bags in.

After the samples were all squished in, Pikachu shut the ball and locked it, "That will keep everyone from looking."

"Another thing, guys…I called Megan, and she said that it would take about three days because she has other things as well…so one day for delivery, three for analysis, one for return; we're looking at about a five-day wait here," Meta Knight sighed, "It's too bad, really, but we can't expect her to drop all of her work…she has other crimes to work on as well."

"True; but at least she's doing it, and we already have half of the samples," Pikachu replied.

"Awesome! We're so close now!" Kirby clapped softly.

"Yeah…I want Sonic to come back. He deserves to be here more than the bastard who raped him…" Pit's wings ruffled in anger.

"Let's get some rest and continue tomorrow. The sooner the abuser is exposed, the better," Link yawned, "Man, I'm tired…"

"Me too…I'm sleeping in. 'Night everyone!" Kirby left the room along with the other two.

"Where do I sleep?" Pit asked.

"Share my bed…I'm too tired to make one up for you," Link sighed. He left to get changed while Pit crawled in on one side. Link took the other half, and after sleepy 'goodnights' he shut off the light.

Pit lay awake in the darkness for a few moments. Then he rolled over and poked Link's back, "Link, are you still awake?"

"Yeah…what do you want?"

"I forgot to mention this…while I was collecting Wario's sample, he came into the room and I had to hide. He had this strange, metal cuff in the room…and he didn't even know what it was. I touched it twice; once when I first came in, and once just before I left. However, only the second time that I touched it I felt a spark go through me…and I think that's why the shadow came after me."

Link rolled over to face Pit, "You think that cuff has something to do with Sonic's abuser? Do you think it's Wario?"

"I told you already; Wario didn't know what it was. He said he couldn't remember…maybe a friend of his had it or something and he couldn't remember; I don't know."

"Hm…maybe we should swipe it from him. Do you think you could try tomorrow?"

"I'll see what I can do," Pit whispered back.

"Cool…now shut up and go to sleep." Link closed his eyes, and Pit fell asleep shortly after.

_**For adding 'Sonic' characters in the story, I did think of a loophole for doing so. Now I don't have to feel as much guilt! **_

_**And oh no; finals are next week! So this is early so I can study (and this chapter was quite long for some reason). I hope you liked it; reviews always appreciated! **_


	23. Tell Me Everything

_**Ok, I can promise to you all without a doubt that everything will make sense in two chapters! That chapter will mainly just be about explaining everything that has been going on…and if I don't post it two weeks from now feel free to hunt me down and hit me with some random weapon of your choice. And you know what's weird? Some time ago I guessed the chapter in which everything would be explained would be around 25, and it's going to be 25! Look at my amazing skills right there! **_

_**Yes, I'm shutting up now. Here we go: **_

"_What were you thinking; going after the angel? He's not part of our plan!" _

"_Shut up! You know he was getting way too close to the cuff; and besides, he's cute. Get your stupid minion out and collect it as soon as possible before they make the connection!" _

"_It's not that simple to get these guys going! For crying out loud; they're already having enough troubles getting the recording…" _

"_Hey, I managed to get that storm going in a single night! Collecting an object is child's play." _

"_And where did that storm exactly get us? All of your plans are ridiculous; you even thought cyanide would buy us time!" _

"_It did you fool; it did! You're the one who's not putting enough effort into this scheme…"_

Wario moaned and slapped his hands over his ears. Those two stupid voices were arguing _again_. He looked at the clock; it was now four in the morning. So they had been at it for around three hours.

The cuff flickered a brighter red every time the voices got louder. If it wasn't for that, Wario would have assumed he was hearing things. Finally the two voices came to an agreement,

"_Look, everyone is still confused about this; those Brawlers don't understand what happened and our victim isn't admitting anything. We won't be found out. Let's just keep going and all shall be well."_

"_Fine; but hurry up!" _

The voices dispersed and the cuff was dark once again. Wario slowly closed his eyes, "Yeah and I'm confused on what the heck that cuff really is…" The cuff emitted a purple powder. Wario fell into a deep sleep, and then a small beam of energy hit Wario's forehead.

In the morning, while Wario could recall two voices speaking, he couldn't remember what they were talking about. His dream helped him to forget…

XXXXXXXXX

Pikachu waited around the corner of the hallway, watching Wario's room. His patience was rewarded; eventually Wario walked out and headed away from the Pokémon. Once he went around to the other side, Pikachu dashed forward and slipped into the room.

The room was lit up from the sun outside, and it flashed onto a metal cuff sitting on the desk. It was flickering with multi-colored lights, and seemed to have this evil aura around it. It must be what Pit wanted.

Pikachu quickly snatched up the cuff and slipped it around his wrist. It was much too big for him, but it would do for now. After one final check to make sure nobody was coming, Pikachu shut the door quietly and then went to hide the anklet.

XXXXXXXXX

"Want some more, Sonic?"

"Thanks, Amy," Sonic replied. He grabbed another handful of popcorn and turned his attention back to the movie. Tails smiled from the kitchen; this was working perfectly. Amy had Sonic completely distracted, and he was eating.

"Find anything?" Tails asked once Knuckles came downstairs. The three of them had put a plan together to see if they could figure out what was wrong with Sonic. So while Amy had Sonic watch a movie with her, Knuckles went upstairs to see if he could find any clues as to what happened. Tails lied and said he was in his lab, when truly he just watched Sonic to see if he would move anytime soon.

"Nothing really useful," Knuckles whispered back, "Except this." The two moved out of view, and Knuckles showed Tails a plastic, circular container. The label on it was peeled and unreadable.

"What is it?" Tails opened the container up. It was some sort of white lotion or cream.

"I have no idea, but look at the label a little closer…you can read 'pain' on it. It must be for healing or something…"

"Knuckles…remember how I told you Sonic was beaten up? Do you think this is what he used to hide his wounds?"

"I think so…poor guy." Knuckles moved to look out the doorway, and then went back to Tails, "I've never seen Sonic so depressed, and I just can't understand why being beaten up made him come home…he could have told someone there what happened…"

"I don't think it was just that…there's more that I didn't tell you."

"There is? Really?"

Tails nodded, "Some of the Brawlers told me that Sonic could have possibly been…sexually abused."

"You can't be serious…" Knuckles whispered. Tails shrugged.

"I'm not sure if he was or not, but we can't rule it out. If only I could somehow get him to tell us…"

"Wait a second…I have an idea. Look, I'm a year older than Sonic, right? If he was raped or molested, wouldn't he rather talk to somebody older about it? It's not that he doesn't trust you, it's that –"

"You're more likely to know about this stuff…I see your point. I wonder if there is a way to get him to come to Angel Island…hmm…"

"Start planning, Tails. As soon as possible, send him to me. I'll see what I can do."

Tails nodded, "I'm not sure if it'll work…but alright, I'll try. Hopefully this won't be too hard…"

Knuckles nodded and went to the front door. He reached for the knob with his right hand, and then he remembered to open it with his left. If he wasn't careful, he could stab himself with the knife he had taken from Sonic's bedroom. He didn't mention it to Tails, for if his theory was wrong he'd feel like an idiot. But if he was right, Sonic was much worse off than they thought…

XXXXXXXXX

"Here we are," Pikachu said, ducking under his bed. He reached into the mattress and pulled out the cuff.

"Good work!" Pit replied, taking the cuff. It looked the same as before, but no jolt ran through him.

"So this is what Wario doesn't know about?" Link asked.

"Yeah…I don't even know what it does, either. I think it may be that shadow's cuff, and Wario found it. It could just remind him of something else he found once, but he can't remember…regardless, it isn't his."

"Hmm…can I see?" Pit handed the cuff to Meta Knight, who twisted it around to see every detail, "This is one complex piece of equipment. Look at all of the keypads and buttons…you'd have to have built it to understand this cuff. There's no way Wario could have created this, and I doubt it came with an instructions manual…"

"This cuff must have the ability to do everything under the sun…think we should try touching something?" Kirby asked, poking the anklet.

"But what if one of the buttons is randomly a self-destruct mechanism? We do need to return this thing before Wario notices; after all, it is his…" Link rubbed the top of the cuff.

"Could we just ask him what it is? If he doesn't know what it is either, he won't mind telling us…"

"But Wario could have raped Sonic; maybe this is his, and he used it to make it easier to keep everything quiet…it's better that we don't," Meta Knight replied.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Kirby sighed, "Did you feel anything, Pit?"

"Nope; not this time…I think that after the shadow left me the message he considered the job done. But this is far from over…we're going to figure this out."

XXXXXXXXX

Wario hardly noticed what was going on in the Base; all of the walls could have been painted prison orange and he probably wouldn't have noticed. He was completely confused on why he couldn't remember what had occurred over the past three weeks and what the cuff was about. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night and his room would be an odd shade of red; the light coming from the anklet. Sometimes he would hear two odd voices coming from the anklet, although he couldn't remember any conversations. But the worst thing was that he had nightmares.

They were basically the same, but had slight differences. It was always about Sonic being hurt; sometimes he was being beaten, and other times he was being raped. The scariest part was the fact Wario was seeing it in first person; he was looking through the eyes of Sonic's attacker. He could almost feel the satisfaction of seeing Sonic's terrified face as he was forced to accept the sex…it was just disturbing.

Wario would wake up panting in the morning, horrified by what he had seen. While he really didn't like Sonic, for he could be pretty annoying and he was tough to beat, Wario would never want Sonic to be hurt this way. The two weren't friends, but they weren't enemies either. So why was he seeing all of these things? Did Sonic actually go through this? If he did, then it would make sense why he left…

"Nothing makes sense…and what the hell does that cuff have to do with anything?" Wario muttered to himself as he climbed the stairs and went back to his room. After only two Brawls, he had enough for the day. He didn't even feel like eating lunch; he was going to eat, but then he had a memory of last night's dream…poor Sonic, being forced to eat –

Wario opened the door to his room, and stared in shock to see that the cuff was missing. He looked all around the desk, but it had vanished.

"Damn it…it's the only clue I have in figuring out what happened to both me and Sonic…" Wario sighed and sat down on his bed. Maybe it was a good thing it was gone; after all, it seemed to be the reason he was having nightmares.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey Lucario; how are you?"

"I'm fine, Meta Knight. Just fine..." Lucario looked back at the sunset.

Meta Knight slid slightly down the roof so he could sit next to the Pokémon, "You don't seem very happy."

"I'm not," Lucario sighed, "Something isn't right here. I feel…like some sort of darkness is close by. It's waiting silently, and when it sees something it doesn't like, it'll strike out to keep it all calm…"

"Wow, aren't you doom-and-gloom today," Meta Knight lightly whacked Lucario on the on his back; at the same time he brushed a few loose hairs off and hid them in his cloak.

"Look, Meta; listen to me. This past month so many horrible things have happened. Sonic left, the arena was crushed, that storm…and every time it happened I feel this sort of energy. Every night I feel like something else is here, carrying out its plans…I don't like it."

"You just need to lighten up a little. I'm sure everything will be fine soon," Meta Knight replied, patting Lucario softly on the back before flying to the top of the roof, "See you later."

Meta Knight slipped down the trapdoor and smiled, "It'll be ok soon, because this is the last DNA sample we need."

XXXXXXXXX

"You have it!" Pikachu slapped Meta Knight a high five in the hallway. He had just returned the cuff; hopefully Wario hadn't noticed it missing earlier.

"Yep…let's get these things packed and mailed today. I think Sam is actually stopping by this evening…"

"Let's go! Come on!" Pikachu grabbed Meta Knight's hand and dragged him to find the others.

In just a few minutes all of the samples were labeled and organized, and part of the bed sheet was cut out and placed inside as well. Meta Knight wrote a letter explaining everything, and wrote the address on the packaging. Now to find Crazy Hand for the stamp…

"Hey Crazy Hand…where are you…" Kirby called.

"He's outside!" Nana came up behind Kirby, "But I'm not sure what he's doing…"

"Thanks!" Kirby ran outside and saw the hand trying to keep a bunch of animals together, "Oh no, what is it now…"

The hand looked up, "Hi, Kirby! What's that?" He pointed at the package.

"I need some stamps as soon as possible to mail this."

"Of course; but we'll have to check with my brother first; he takes care of that stuff. He says I can't stop loosing things…ridiculous! But first, meet Kirby!" Crazy Hand plucked one of the small animals off of the ground and handed it to the puffball. Kirby put down the package and looked at it. 'Kirby' was a squirrel.

"I found a tree full of them; and there were forty in all! So I named them all after the Brawlers! Isn't that awesome?" Crazy Hand scooped all of the squirrels up.

"You can tell them apart?" Kirby asked, confused. They all looked the same…

"Of course I can! Now I need to move them into the preserve…put that little guy into my palm and I'll drop them all off. Then I'll get going with your package!" Kirby gave the other Kirby back to the hand, and followed him to the preserve. He released the squirrels into the forest. They were all chattering excitedly.

"I'm glad they're happy! And now for the mail…" Crazy Hand took it from Kirby, "Let's go check on my brother…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey Master Hand…" Kirby knocked softly on the door, "Hello…"

"He won't respond to anyone except me," Crazy Hand sighed, "He told me he feels like a failure. All he does is mope in there and nothing else…" Kirby glanced at Crazy; even the hyper hand was upset.

Crazy knocked on the door, "I just need a few stamps, bro…"

It was quiet for a few minutes, but then a set of stamps was pushed under the door. When Kirby bent down to pick them up, he could see the room was completely dark. It must match perfectly with Master Hand's mood…

"There you go, Kirby. Sam will be here any minute; so you'd better wait around. Anyways, I have to take care of Taco now." The hand floated off.

A few minutes later, Kirby handed over the package to Sam. He told the puffball he'd take special care of it and drove off. Kirby sighed.

Now it was time for the five-day wait to begin…

XXXXXXXXX

_Two full days later…_

It took a lot of convincing, but Tails somehow managed to get Sonic out of the house. He really didn't believe that Knuckles had something to help him, but hey, Tails was persistent. At least he'd be left alone now that he was going to Angel Island.

Sonic was finding himself falling farther into his hole of depression, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't climb out of it. To add onto the problem, his knife had gone missing, and he had to take another one to cut with. So far Tails hadn't noticed, but of course nobody had done the dishes for a couple of days now. As soon as someone did, they'd notice one of the knives was missing when that holder wasn't filled…and what then?

There were so many different emotions and thoughts going through Sonic's head that his mind became a tangled mess. His hatred and confusion about the whole ordeal made him just a horrible friend. He couldn't get along with anybody anymore. It was always about something stupid, but Sonic would just get frustrated for no reason and start fighting with Tails. The two friends had rarely argued, but now Sonic couldn't help but pick a fight with basically everyone; he just felt the need to let his emotions out on someone, and it ended up being his friends.

While being so mean gave him plenty of time alone, it also made the nightmares worse and more realistic than before. Every night he would wake up terrified and stay awake shivering until dawn. Nobody knew about the nightmares, and Sonic wanted to keep it that way. But it was hard when every night you relived your torture again and again…so he slept the days away, ate little and said basically nothing kind. Acting what he was really feeling was easier than acting happy; it no longer took any real effort to get through a day.

Sonic was running over another familiar landscape. Everything was the same, and yet seemed crueler, harsher…although Sonic doubted he would ever be the same again. He just couldn't bring himself to tell his friends the truth, but he couldn't go on like this, with the nightmares returning and fighting with his own friends. If there was even the slightest possibility that Knuckles could help him, he had to take it.

There was the altar, and the guardian was at the top, still watching over the Master Emerald. It was only a few seconds before Sonic was standing by his side.

Knuckles lazily opened one eye, "So, I've been blessed with the speedy one's presence, eh?"

"I've missed you too." Sonic took a seat on the left side of Knuckles on the top stair. The echidna sat up, and both friends looked quietly out into the night.

After some time, Knuckles spoke, "Sonic, you really don't think you're ok, do you?"

"I'm ok, Knuckles." _"No you're not! Tell him!" _

"I've been your friend for years; I can tell you're lying. Do you ever look into the mirror anymore? It doesn't matter what kind of smile you plaster onto your face or what tone of voice you use – your eyes say it all. You're in pain, but you don't want to admit it. I don't care what's happened to you; I'm your friend. Do you at least see that?"

"Of course I do…I know I've been yelling a lot lately, but I want you guys to see that I can take care of myself. So I guess…well…I'm sorry for being such a bitch. There; I said it."

"I accept your apology, but I'm still not backing down. Something's not right; you're hiding something from everyone. It's one of those big, dark, hairy secrets that just gnaw at you until there's nothing left in your life but pain and sadness."

"Oh come on! There's plenty of good stuff in my life!"

"Maybe, but the darkness overshadows everything else. It's all that's on your mind, and it makes you do things you wouldn't normally do in order to keep the pain under control."

"Alright Knuckles; stop going all poetic on me. What are you getting at here? I'm perfectly ok."

The echidna sighed and grabbed Sonic's right wrist. Before the hedgehog could pull away, Knuckles yanked off the glove. Dozens of cuts covered the now exposed skin; some were much more recent than others. Everywhere you looked, there was a small gash.

Sonic stared at his hand, too shocked to say a word, and his mouth opened when he saw Knuckles holding the knife in his other hand; the one Sonic had lost earlier. "Do you tell yourself you're ok every time you give yourself these?" Knuckles asked softly.

Sonic bit his lip, and then he whispered, "I…I just…it makes me feel better." He could feel his emotions ramming against the huge dam he had built to hold them back. This was one secret exposed now; nobody at the Base suspected this. How much more did Knuckles know?

"Why does it make you feel better?"

"It just does!" Sonic tried to get up and leave, but Knuckles was still holding onto his wrist and pulled him back down. Tears were beginning to build behind Sonic's eyes with the force of a waterfall. He turned his head so Knuckles couldn't see.

"You didn't answer my question, Sonic. Why does it make you feel better?"

The words began flowing out of Sonic before he knew what was happening, "It helps me to cope. The pain I feel when I cut myself is easier to handle than remembering what Wario did to me. Call me an emo or a cutter or a suicidal freak; I don't care. Just let me have this small sip of relief…it doesn't last for very long; nothing I have tried has ever worked. But this one works better than the rest, so I keep doing it. I know I shouldn't, but I can't stop. I just try and try to forget, but nothing works. I can't get away…" Sonic's head fell forward, and his eyes were shut tight.

Knuckles was shocked that Sonic really was cutting himself, but he simply put the knife and Sonic's glove down by his side and kept his voice calm and soothing, "What else have you tried?"

"I stopped eating for eight days, and the hunger pains made it easier to ignore my other problems. But then everyone was getting worried, so I swapped methods. I tried thinking about other things when Wario was hurting me, but it didn't always work, and if it didn't I was in trouble. I saw a psychiatrist once who put me on antidepressants, but they didn't affect me at all. I tried keeping busy all day long, so I would collapse at night and feel little when it occurred, but in the morning I would remember everything and hate myself just as much. One day I accidentally cut myself, and then I've been cutting ever since. I never told anybody anything. I lied to everyone who asked me what was wrong. I lied to the Hands, I lied to the Brawlers, and I lied to everyone here."

"Why did you lie, Sonic? What was Wario going to do to you if you told?"

Sonic took a deep breath, "He had this cuff that he put around my ankle, and it could do everything imaginable; teleport someone, make a room soundproof…but what he mainly used it for was taking away my powers. It was how he got me the first time…if I didn't obey Wario he'd take away my powers for good. My super speed was gone and I had the strength of a child. I couldn't fight back. The cuff was invisible to everyone except him and me, and only he could take it off. But why am I telling you this? It's so far-fetched you won't believe me…"

"I believe every word you're saying. I know you; you're speaking nothing but the truth. But there's one last thing, Sonic…what did Wario do to you?"

Sonic whispered, "I can't tell you. You'll hate me. You'll laugh at me. You'll think I'm pathetic." His voice became even softer, "You'll think I deserved it."

"I would never do any of those things. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you. You do so much for everyone; you cheer everybody up and save their lives. You let people lean on you when they can't be strong, and you help them carry on. Just this once, let it be the other way around. Lean on your friends and let us help you through this. You don't have to go through this alone."

Sonic swallowed, trying to keep himself from dropping even further into that pit of despair. He didn't say a word, but inside he could feel his defenses slowly crumbling. Just a little bit more and everything would tumble out of him.

Finally, Knuckles said, "I don't care if you killed somebody or if you destroyed a planet or two. I just want you to know that being friends with you is one of the best things that has ever happened to everyone you know. We've always stood by your side, and we're not abandoning you now just because you aren't the same as before and can't handle this alone. But we can't help you if you don't tell us what made you sad, and if you don't tell us what's going on in your mind. Please..."

That did it. The dam burst and all of the pain Sonic had locked away for weeks was coming back. That's when Sonic felt the first tear come out of his eye and slip down his cheek. Then another and another…and before Sonic knew it he was crying.

Knuckles couldn't believe it; everything had affected Sonic so badly that he was crying. Sonic never, _ever_ cried, not even when he was terribly injured, but now it looked like he was never going to stop.

It was only a few moments before Sonic began trying to calm himself down, _"You idiot, stop crying!" _

Knuckles saw that Sonic was trying to make himself stop, so he began rubbing his friend's back, "Sh, sh…it's ok, Sonic. Go ahead and cry. I'll stay here as long as you need me. Just tell me everything...it'll be better once you do."

That just made Sonic cry even harder, and he wrapped his arms around Knuckles and buried his tear-stained face into Knuckles' shoulder. Knuckles held Sonic tight, and didn't say another word as the hurt hedgehog sobbed his heart out, "Oh, Knuckles…Wario raped me! He raped me again and again and I did nothing to stop him!"

For the first time the story came pouring out of Sonic; how it all started, everything Wario made him do, and the pain of trying to keep it a secret and his powers. Sonic wasn't even sure if he was telling everything or just babbling, but the echidna listened nonetheless. Knuckles said nothing the entire time and kept holding him, and after the truth was out Sonic kept sobbing and eventually cried himself to sleep.


	24. Picking Up the Pieces

The light from the sunrise landed on Sonic's face and awakened him. His eyes ached from crying for hours. Somebody was stroking his quills, slowly, as not to disturb him. Now Sonic remembered what happened last night, and he could feel the tears welling up behind his eyes again.

"Hey, Sonic…are you awake now?" After Sonic had fallen asleep, Knuckles had moved Sonic's head onto his lap and let him stay all night.

"Yes…" Sonic whimpered, "Knuckles, what have I done? I should have stopped him the first time. Why did I keep it a secret? I'm so stupid…"

"No, you're not. That was a damn good threat." Knuckles stopped petting Sonic when the hedgehog sat up. Sonic's head felt like it was made of stone, and he leaned his head on Knuckles' shoulder.

"You know...if you don't want to tell everyone back at the Base the truth…I'm willing to call. I'll make Wario pay for what he did to you…" The echidna clenched his fists tightly in anger.

"No…just drop it, Knuckles."

"What? Don't you want him to be punished? You're going to let Wario get away with it?" Knuckles stared at Sonic in shock.

"What's the point? Wario wanted me to leave, and he got me to leave. He raped me, beat me and humiliated me. So what if he gets locked in a cage for the rest of his life? That's not going to change the fact that he did those things to me, and anyways I'm never going to return to the Base."

"You're not going back?"

"I never will…I just can't face everyone there. They suspected I was being raped, and by now everyone there probably knows."

"Still…I'm just surprised you don't want revenge."

"I don't want Wario to come within a million miles of me. I want to stay here…I never belonged at the Base. It was stupid of me to go." Sonic then whispered so softly Knuckles didn't hear, "I deserved it for being there."

"You had the right to be there like anyone else, but you're so stubborn I'm not going to be able to change your mind." Knuckles sighed, "Well, if you don't want to tell anyone there…there's at least one person here you need to tell."

"Who else needs to know?"

"Tails does…he's been putting up with you for the past week, and as much as I hate to say it you've been a total asshole. He deserves to know, and he probably deserves an apology as well."

"Alright, I'll tell Tails…but no one else."

"That's good enough. Come on…let's go."

XXXXXXXXX

"And we're coming into day three of waiting…everyone who is participating in the marathon is going insane…"

"Shut up, Pikachu…I don't want to be reminded again…" Pit sighed and leaned on the window sill.

"Except for the one named Pit who's being a jerk…"

"Shut it!" Pit turned halfway around and whacked Pikachu on the nose.

"Ouch! Yeesh, if you want me to leave just say so!" Pikachu rubbed his nose and scampered off, not really hurt.

Pit felt a small wave of guilt wash over him; yeah, he didn't hurt Pikachu, but he did hit him. The five of them weren't exactly having good tempers lately. It was because of the waiting…they were waiting hour for hour, minute for minute, second for second…

"This is killer…" Meta Knight jumped up onto the sill beside Pit, "Megan's almost done, but it feels like a lifetime of waiting. Whoever did this to Sonic certainly shows no remorse…"

"I don't think anybody does if they commit a crime of that magnitude…poor Sonic. Do you think he's told anyone yet?"

"I'm not sure; I hope so, because keeping all of that on your shoulders must feel like an entire mountain. He'll never be able to carry that pain around forever."

"Knowing Sonic, I can see how he might try…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey Tails? Are you here?" Sonic opened the door slightly and slipped inside; Knuckles followed.

"I hope he didn't go out looking for you…" Knuckles looked back and forth before calling out, "Tails, where are you?"

"So there you are, Sonic! I was actually thinking about going to look for you, but I suspected you'd be with Knuckles if you didn't return." Tails appeared from a doorway and then looked at the echidna, "Well?"

"Tails…I'm…I'm sorry…" Sonic's ears flattened and he looked at the ground.

"Sonic was with me last night, and he fell asleep…anyways, there's something really important he needs to tell you…about why he left the Base," Knuckles said. He poked Sonic's side, "It's ok buddy, go on…"

"I…I was…he…" Sonic was shaking so hard it looked like he was going to collapse.

"Whoa, hey; sit down…" Knuckles guided Sonic to the couch and made him sit on it. Tails sat down beside the hedgehog while Knuckles sat on the coffee table across from him, "Get it off of your chest, Sonic…say it."

A tear slipped out of Sonic's eye before he could stop it, "Tails…at the Base…I was…raped." More tears followed the first as Sonic recounted the tale all over again.

It was quiet for a moment, and then Tails spoke. He was so quiet it was barely more than a whisper, "Sonic, I'm so, so sorry…I should have picked you up that first night. I should have done more for you…but I didn't know it was going on. I'm sorry."

"I'm s-s-sorry I did-dn't tell you before," Sonic sobbed, his words coming out in breathless gasps, "It's not like I did-dn't tr-tr-trust you, I j-just was s-s-so s-ca-scared. It's my entire f-f-fa-fault this happ-happened! I c-c-could have t-t-told…I sh-should have done some-th-thing… "

"Could have, maybe should have, but didn't. It's done with. Forget about what you could have done and let's see what you can do. You really need help," Knuckles said, standing up and then placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

Sonic smiled slightly, the first completely unforced one in weeks, "O-ok…I'm coun-counting on you two."

XXXXXXXXX

"So, the cuff has returned…" Wario glared at the metal object which was now back on his desk. It was in the same position as he last saw it and the same place he had looked for it a million times. Did this thing have little legs inside as well?

Wario picked up the cuff once again, and he heard voice whisper, _"They're done. We pick it up tonight." _Wario dropped the cuff in shock and looked around.

"Who? What?" Wario looked back down at the anklet, "Are they coming to pick this up? Did they…were they the ones who…raped Sonic?" The last part he said quieter than the rest.

"Well, they can have it," Wario snapped, "I don't want these nightmares. I don't want anything to do with this!" He tossed the cuff back onto his desk and left the room.

XXXXXXXXX

_At the exact same time the voice spoke, in another part of the Base… _

"Good news, everyone!" Meta Knight ran up to the other four, "She's finished! We get the results tomorrow!

There were plenty of high fives and cheers to go around. One more day and it would all be over. That Brawler was in deep trouble now!

XXXXXXXXX

"Look, there are plenty of places that we can call to find you some support." Tails tapped the phone book with his green highlighter, "Won't you at least try one?"

"I don't want to tell my story all over again, especially to some stranger!" Sonic hugged his knees to his chest. The three of them were sitting around the coffee table trying to discuss what steps to take next after calming Sonic down. Sonic had cried more in the past twelve hours than he probably had in the past twelve years. After helping to comfort the violated hedgehog again, Knuckles agreed to stay and help out, especially since Sonic was going to be torture to live with for the next while. Already Sonic's reluctance to go for professional help was starting to annoy the other two.

Knuckles leaned his elbow on the table and rested his cheek in his palm. Looking at Sonic, he replied, "You're not going to get over this if you don't talk about it."

Sonic looked at the echidna on his right and said, "I should just starve them to death. My feelings, I mean."

"You starved yourself before, and where did that get you?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stifle them. Tails glared at Knuckles from across the table. Sonic said nothing, but his now misty eyes said everything.

"Good going, you fucking asshole." Knuckles' jaw dropped in shock at Tails swearing at him, and seeing the echidna's dazed expression made Sonic snicker. It was loud enough for the other two to hear, and both turned to the hedgehog between them. Sonic was no longer close to crying, and he smiling slightly again.

"Well, at least that made you feel better." Tails leaned against the couch behind him, "Still, Knuckles and I have no real experience in dealing with depression, especially with you, and you could snap at any time. It's better if we get someone that's trained in these sorts of things to help you."

"But if I go meet them, people will wonder, and somehow they'll find out. I don't want everyone knowing of this…" Sonic uncurled and was now sitting cross-legged, "What would people think of me if they knew…"

"You're usually not one for caring what others think," Knuckles said.

"This is different!" Sonic snapped. Damn it, he was already losing his temper again.

Tails spoke before Knuckles could reply, "Maybe we could ask for the psychiatrist to come here? It's worth a shot."

Sonic bit his lip as he stared at the phone book, "Well, I'll give it a try…" He pulled the book towards him and turned it so he could read; the pages slightly off the edges of the table because he was sitting at the narrow end.

He silently read each advertisement, the other two waiting to see if Sonic would pick someone. He flipped over the page, and there was an advertisement with a shiny gold key logo. He was shocked to see the familiar name on it; Brendan Nam.

"Are you ok? You look surprised," Knuckles asked.

Sonic pointed to the name and said, "This is the psychiatrist Master Hand made me see…"

"Did you like him? We can call…" Tails pointed to the phone number.

Sonic thought carefully. He really didn't want to tell a psychiatrist anything, but Dr. Nam actually did seem pretty nice. His two friends really did want him to get some more help, and Master Hand must have hired Nam for a reason…

"Ok, do it."

Tails picked up the phone sitting nearby and dialed. After a few moments someone answered.

"Hello, I'm wondering if I could speak with Dr. Nam, please. Yes, I'll wait." Tails rolled his eyes and leaned against the couch again. Sonic was close to lunging at Tails and shutting off the phone before the guy could answer, but the presence of Knuckles' hand on his arm stopped him.

"Yes, I would like to make an appointment. No, it's for a friend. He should be a patient…oh, his name is Sonic." Tails gave a thumbs-up to the other two, signaling he was speaking to the psychiatrist, "Yep, Sonic the Hedgehog…he's no longer at the Base; he's staying with me. I'm his friend Tails." A pause while Dr. Nam replied. "You'll see him? That's great, but there's a problem…would it be possible for you to travel here? Sonic…he doesn't want anybody to know what happened to make him leave…yes, I know, and so does one other person." Tails gave Sonic a quick glance, "Yeah, you did figure it out correctly, but he really needs help…we'll pay a good price."

There was another long pause, and then Tails smiled and began giving the psychiatrist directions to his place.

Sonic leaned over to Knuckles and whispered, "Knux, I don't think I can do this. I'm too scared."

Knuckles said softly back, "I know, but it will be ok in the end. It'll only be tough right now. You can do this; just work on one problem at a time."

Sonic nodded and looked back at the phone book, _"Of course, there really is only one problem; me!" _

Tails shut off the phone after he was done planning, "Dr. Nam is coming, Sonic. He'll be here tomorrow, and will stay in a hotel here and take vacation time off of work so there are no other distractions…and he'll come in every day to see you. See? It'll be alright!"

"I don't know…what if this gets out?"

"Neither of us will tell a soul. Your secret is safe with us," Knuckles said, patting Sonic on the back. Sonic's ears folded against his head and he looked at the ground. A few tears ran down his cheeks.

"Is it really that bad? Hang on; I have something for you…" Tails ran out of the room, but was back in a minute holding a stuffed powder blue sparkly unicorn. It had a white mane and hooves, emerald green eyes, dark blue wings and a dark blue horn, "Don't give me that look; I didn't buy it! Long story short being Cream heard you were sad and gave it to me to give it to you…I wasn't exactly sure, but here." He thrust the stuffy into Sonic's arms.

"Aw, how sweet," Sonic sniffed, brushing back the unicorn's mane.

"Are you going to keep him?" Knuckles asked.

"I might as well."

"Name?"

"Mm…I think I'll call him Galaxy because his sparkles are like stars." Sonic snuggled the stuffy to his chest.

"Well, whatever makes you happy," Knuckles patted the unicorn's head, and Tails sat down beside the others, smiling.

XXXXXXXXX

"Five more hours until we find out…I need to sleep…" Pikachu mumbled, tossing back and forth on his bed. For some reason he wasn't tired at all. He sighed, turned on the light and grabbed a book to continue reading.

Some time later, the Pokémon heard a crash from downstairs. It was quite faint though; probably a dropped plate or something. Pikachu shrugged it off as nothing and continued to read.

XXXXXXXXX

_About ten minutes earlier…_

"_**Stop it! Don't push in so far!" Sonic was trying to take on the penetration, but it was obvious it was hurting him terribly. **_

_**The person Wario was seeing through muttered something he could not understand.**_

"_**Ouch…ah…ow…" The figure laughed and thrust in and out of Sonic; Sonic whimpered in pain. **_

_**After some time, the figure had enough, slapped the hedgehog hard across the cheek and was beginning to leave. Just before the figure left the room, however, Wario clearly heard Sonic whine, "How could you do this to me, Wario? How could you?" **_

_**The figure looked down, and in his dark palm was the anklet, slightly stained with semen and blood. **_

XXXXXXXXX

Wario woke up in shock, rolled over and grabbed the anklet. This…_thing_ must have made him forget! He was the one who had raped Sonic! He did it and couldn't even remember!

A slight tapping at the window made Wario look up. He slipped out of bed and padded across the room to the window. He looked outside without opening the window to see if anyone was there, but there was nothing.

"Must have been a bird or something…" Wario muttered. He looked down at the anklet.

_Tap tap. _

"Huh?" This time Wario looked up to see a cloaked figure sitting on the windowsill.

"What do you want?" Wario asked.

The figure seemed to understand him, and pointed to the cuff. Wario looked at the cuff, _"This is the only thing I have in helping to solve what happened to me that made me rape Sonic…I was going to give this back, but not anymore, because I need to know. This is mine." _Wario shook his head 'no'.

The figure seemed to glare at Wario, and pointed to the cuff again.

Wario gripped it tightly in his palm and began to back away. The figure grew angry and was scratching at the glass, making a horrible screeching sound. Wario fumbled with his door, opened it and fled down the stairs.

In the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of milk in order to calm his nerves after he was certain the creature hadn't followed him, _"What have I done? I raped poor Sonic! But why the hell can't I remember it?" _Wario sipped the cool liquid and glared at the anklet.

"This is your entire fault! You made me forget!" Wario picked the cuff up in frustration and threw it over the island. Something on the other side caught it…something not human. It was humanoid shaped, but completely black, with four arms and a pinkish center. It was the figure outside his window.

The thing lunged at Wario, knocking over his glass, which shattered on the floor. It used two of its arms to hold Wario's wrists behind his back and another hand to cover Wario's mouth, making him unable to cry for help. The fourth arm held the cuff.

"The master does not like disobedience…you will pay for your crimes." Wario could now see under the hood of the cloak, and the creature had two heads! The thing began to drag Wario towards the wall, and made both of them walk right through. Wario was able to look back at the Base one final time before he was dragged away…


	25. The Explanation

"What time is it now?" Kirby asked.

"Eight twenty-seven…and two minutes after the last time you asked." Link looked at the clock above Master Hand's office door. The Hand was so upset about Sonic that he hadn't left his office all week, and with Crazy Hand in charge things were always interesting. Just an hour ago he had somehow set the kitchen on fire, so breakfast was delayed…again. Also, a mysterious plant that greatly resembled a giant purple tulip had appeared in the arena waiting room, but everyone knew from experience it was better not to ask…

"Come on, where's the mailman?" Pikachu darted to the window, and then joined Kirby with his pacing.

"You two are driving me insane; would you stop that!" Pit snapped.

"Sorry, 'cupid'…but I just want to know!" Kirby quickly moved to the other side of the hall in order to avoid being attacked.

_Ding-dong…_

"Oh! Doorbell…doorbell!" Pikachu peered out the window again, "Mail's here!"

"It's about time!" Meta Knight jumped up to reach the doorknob and opened the door.

The regular postman, Sam, stood there, and knew what to expect from this group, "Hey guys; expecting something important today?"

"Definitely; is there a letter from a Megan Zaix?" Meta Knight asked.

"Hmm…" Sam looked through his bag, "Oh yes, here you go." He pulled out a thick, manila envelope and handed it to Meta Knight, "Do you have a girlfriend or something?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that? We're friends!" Meta Knight sighed, but then smiled again, "Thanks Sammy!"

The five Brawlers were about to leave, but Sam stopped them, "Uh…aren't you guys forgetting something?"

"What could we – oh, right…" Pit grabbed the rest of the mail, "See you later!" The angel then dropped the pile on a small table and disappeared after the others.

Sam chuckled to himself before shutting the door and heading to his truck. Those Brawlers could get excited about anything; it must be like living with a bunch of little kids on Christmas morning all of the time. He was glad to have this route.

XXXXXXXXX

"Open it, open it!" Kirby immediately said as soon as the door to Meta Knight's room was shut.

"I am; I am!" Meta Knight replied. He took out his sword and made a small incision in the envelope. He pulled out a few sheets of paper; the first was just a simple letter to Meta Knight, who put it aside to read later. There was another explaining what Megan had done, and finally there were four sheets holding the results of the tests; two for the blood, and two for the semen. Quickly scanning through the first two, the tests confirmed that the blood did indeed belong to Sonic. Now to read the rest…

The five Brawlers were crowded around the papers, reading slowly, holding their breath in anticipation of finding out the truth. The names were in alphabetical order…and on the first page all of the results were negative. Then they got to the second, and just before the bottom, there it was:

Name: Wario Status: Confirmed

Meta Knight wrinkled the pages from gripping them so hard, "Wario…that bastard…"

"Where the fuck is he? He's going to pay…" Link growled.

"Let's find out," Pikachu said in a harsh tone. The five Brawlers quickly split up in order to find their target…

XXXXXXXXX

Wario woke up; his head was throbbing. What happened? Right, the cuff and the kidnapping…wait a second; the kidnapping…where the hell was he?

Wario tried to sit up, but some kind of golden chain was wrapped around his neck, forcing him to lie down to breath. He also had on golden wrist and ankle cuffs, binding them together. He could barely move. The room was the same color on every wall, the ceiling and the floor: purple, black and indigo, with a mix of a few other random colors. It seemed to be made out of pure energy, with no door in sight.

"So, I see you've finally awakened?" Wario rolled over as best as he could to see two figures, both covered by simple black cloaks. The hoods were pulled so far over their faces Wario couldn't see any facial features. A strange, blue light seemed to be coming from under one cloak; the other one had blue and white boots poking out of the bottom.

"Who are you guys?" Wario asked.

The figure with the boots chuckled, "We don't answer questions to which the answers are already known."

"Why did you guys kidnap me? What did I do?"

"What is this? You do not remember?" One figure glided closer to Wario, who was startled for a moment to see no feet under the cloak; only a pale blue glow. The glow, the voice…it was so familiar…

"Tabuu…is that you?" Wario asked.

"Brilliant. So you do know something," Tabuu replied, pulling down his hood. He hadn't changed at all.

"Why am I here? And who's the other guy?"

"I told you I wanted the cuff returned, Wario, and it seems that my minion had to take it by force…hence you were brought here. But the job has been done; I don't see why you would want the old thing."

"What job? What did you make me do? You're responsible for me forgetting the past few weeks, aren't you?" Wario struggled to sit up again, but the chain choked him and he had to lie back down, "This has something to do with Sonic, doesn't it?"

"Oh yes…we both had a bone to pick with that little rat. After you all foiled my master plan, many things happened…many bad things. I got my revenge on Sonic, is all," Tabuu laughed.

"What did he do to you?"

Tabuu snorted, "Why would you care?"

"Because I was involved in this…why don't you tell me the story?"

Tabuu sighed, "Interesting idea…my minions don't really understand the success of this plan. They're all mindless drones. You however…"

The other figure hissed, "What about me, pal? Are you going to tell him who I am?"

"Oh, right…Wario, meet Mephiles. You won't know him, but Sonic does."

"Huh?" Odd; Wario couldn't recall Sonic ever speaking of this Mephiles.

Mephiles laughed, but didn't pull down the hood of his cloak, "This will be more fun than I thought! I'm going to check on our L.A…have fun, Tabuu." Mephiles glided towards a wall and disappeared.

"L.A.? As in Los Angeles?" Wario asked.

Tabuu ignored Wario's question and snapped his fingers, releasing Wario from the chains, "Come with me."

A door appeared in a different wall, and Tabuu began to glide out. Wario followed, hoping to find an escape route at the same time.

"Don't you dare think about escaping…or you'll meet a horrible fate." Wario could tell Tabuu was dead serious, and there really wasn't a good chance of him being able to take the humanoid butterfly on alone. And that other guy could appear at any moment as well…

XXXXXXXXX

The two ended up in a plain metal room; save for two huge, soft chairs and two small side tables. There were no windows, and as soon as they both entered the door disappeared as well.

"I like this place…less distracting than those other crazy designs," Tabuu said, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Wario sat in the other, still watching the boss.

Tabuu leaned over to the side table and motioned with his hand, and instantly a cup of coffee appeared. "Want something?" Tabuu asked.

"Uh…just water, thanks." A second later a glass of water appeared by his side. Wario cautiously took a sip; it tasted fine, so there weren't any drugs in it. You couldn't be too careful here.

Tabuu sighed and leaned against the back of his chair, "So do you remember anything at all about the past few weeks?"

Wario thought hard, but every memory was fuzzy, "A storm, some ghost girl, and…me raping Sonic."

Tabuu sighed again and pulled his cloak tighter around him, "It wasn't rape…more like making love."

"Are you kidding me? He was in so much pain – hold on, you don't mean that I really…"

"Had sex with Sonic? Oh yeah, you did. You see, I made you, because with that cuff I controlled you."

Wario dropped the water glass, but it somehow floated back onto the side table without spilling a drop, "No! You didn't! How could you?"

Tabuu held up a hand, silencing him, "Look…let me start from the beginning…

"I wasn't always the 'butterfly' you see now. I used to be a regular human…or sort of. Anyways, my home world discovered an alternate universe with tons of magical energy; you guys call it Subspace. They were looking for the perfect person to control that energy, and through some sort of research – even I still don't know what they exactly did – they discovered it was me. So they took me to their research center, imprisoned me and experimented on me.

"Then they discovered while the person in charge would have unimaginable power…they had to sacrifice everything to get it. So the doctors and scientists ordered to have everyone I loved slaughtered like cattle. Day and night they hunted down every last friend and family member I had…and with each one dead, my power slowly grew. And when my power grew, they could tap more into Subspace and study its creatures.

"Finally, my little niece was all I had left; Shania. By then I already looked like a monster, but she still loved me. I used some of my power to take her to the Base's world and build her a place to live…for months she stayed in hiding and I had some of my free will left. But when they found her…with the Primids, they killed her.

"My anger grew to unspeakable heights…and I killed every last doctor and scientist who made me who I am now. Then I was all alone…and now that Subspace was fully under my control, I wanted no more violence and nothing to do with you heroes…"

"Hold on…you mean when you were attacking us, you didn't have all of the power?" Wario interrupted.

"You're right…I was like their puppet…they thought with you guys in trophies they could make clones of you and take over the universe…but of course it didn't really work. They had become too power-hungry to think straight. Shortly after you guys won and closed the portal from Subspace to the Smasher's World, Shania was killed; they planned on trying their plan again, but of course that never happened. Alone and lost, once some of my power returned I traveled through many different realms…that's where I met Mephiles. We both had much in common; we both hated that hedgehog. Together, we began plotting our revenge…"

"Revenge on us? Hey, we were just protecting ourselves! But couldn't you have just opened another portal here and saved Shania yourself before?"

"I tried!" Tabuu stood up, and the room began to grow dark, "But that hedgehog cursed me, damned me! He's the reason why Shania died; why I am filled with nothing but cruelty and hatred!"

"What…? How did he –"

"He broke my _wings_!" Tabuu gasped, throwing off his cloak. His once majestic wings were now like shattered glass, "My wings contained most of my power. When Sonic destroyed them, I could no longer turn you into trophies; making me weak enough for all of you to defeat me…but also I could no longer open portals so easily. When those damn humans found out I had lost, they realized someone I loved was still left, and because of that I wasn't strong enough to win. So they killed her. And then I killed them. That part of my revenge was easy; then I wanted to make Sonic pay."

"…You wanted to kill him?"

"No," Tabuu whispered harshly, sitting down again, and the darkness began to withdraw, "He made me a cripple, so I decided to make him a cripple as well. For months Mephiles and I plotted and planned and poured all of our power into that cuff. We designed it to take away Sonic's powers forever. You know he loves his super speed; he'd die without it. We made sure the cuff was unbreakable so he would suffer until the day he dies…"

"Where do I come into this?" Wario whispered.

Tabuu snorted, "You think I could just waltz in there, put the cuff on Sonic and disappear without being spotted? Oh no…I needed someone to do the job for me.

"So we designed the cuff so we could take over someone's mind at the same time…and Mephiles hacked into the Base's computer system, waiting for the perfect Brawler to show up. You were the Brawler…you have to admit, you are somewhat jealous of Sonic, right? As far as Mario's rivals go, Bowser and Sonic come before you."

"So what if I am? I would never want to do this to him…"

Tabuu chuckled, "At first, I didn't either. But let me explain a bit more about the mind control; I sent a pop-up to you, allowing us control of your mind and put the cuff in your hands. We'd take turns controlling you and moving you around your world and we added more features onto the cuff when necessary. But it was hard to take full control even with both of us fighting…you're pretty damn stubborn. Eventually I began to type messages to you, reinforcing our commands. They worked perfectly, and soon we could do whatever we wished. We felt whatever you felt, heard whatever you heard, and saw whatever you saw…although only one of us could move you at a time, the other could still see. Then we watched Sonic and pounced when the time was right.

"The truth is, at first all we were planning to do was snap on the cuff and leave…but the first time we went into Sonic's room, Mephiles saw the hedgehog at a different angle. He said Sonic was so young…and pure…and innocent. Mephiles hated him for that; he wanted to rip that innocence out from right under him. I let him do it. He made you rape Sonic; sweet, chaste, virtuous Sonic. Although he isn't very pure anymore, with all of his thoughts…"

"How could you do that to him…how could you…?" Wario felt his stomach churning with the thoughts, "That's disgusting…so horrible…" What must Sonic think of him now?

"Mephiles enjoyed it, actually. He said it felt so _good_; that Sonic had such a tight, silky hole, having never been probed by another. For the first time in a long while he forgot his worries and just concentrated on the deed…I liked the sound of that."

"But then why didn't you just leave him alone afterwards…you guys got what you wanted…" Wario moaned.

"Because Mephiles liked it so much…so we threatened him. We told Sonic if he didn't obey our commands, he would lose his powers…and that made him fall to his knees. After Mephiles had him the first two nights, I wanted a turn…we got to do so many things with him…and it was amazing. I would go to sleep at night, just thinking about the sex…we felt all of the pleasure your body did; we even came over here, far away from the Base. We were able to play out our fantasies on that hedgehog…I loved him…"

"Wait…you're in love with Sonic?" The idea made Wario stare in shock.

"Not in love with him...more like in love with his body. His tight little entrance, his curvy hips, his sexy ass…" Tabuu laughed, "For the first time in a long time, I had something to love. Well, make love to, anyways. Not only did it feel good from thrusting into him, but it felt good to see him suffer…so there was both the satisfaction of revenge and the joy of lovemaking. No wonder people are so obsessed with this stuff…"

"You're both sick; absolutely sick. Just…that's horrible…" Wario leaned back in the chair, "Why didn't he tell anyone?"

"Because we told him if he did, he'd lose his powers, and he didn't want that. So he kept perfectly quiet…but not perfectly normal. He couldn't take it after some time. While I just made love to him, Mephiles was quite rough. He made Sonic bleed more often than I did, and he liked seeing Sonic in pain and humiliated. He often spanked that hedgehog…must have hurt a lot. He even beat Sonic once for trying to tell someone. Sonic must have been so confused on why two different personalities were after him; he was going insane trying to hide all of this. Some of the Brawlers became suspicious, and they began to investigate…neither of us thought they'd ever get this far."

"Get far? What do you mean?"

"They know you're the one who raped Sonic. We thought the Brawlers would get frustrated and simply give up. But they didn't; they went all the way with their investigation. They have both DNA results and a recording of the one time Sonic tried to tell someone what happened…if they get their hands on you, you're going to jail. And of course everybody knows how much they like rapists in prison…"

"So what; am I supposed to be grateful that you saved me from the slammer?"

Tabuu laughed, "Not exactly…I was planning to just dump you back off at the Base before you woke up. But the shaydas I sent to grab the cuff said to me, 'Why did you take control of his mind?' At that point I realized we had made a huge mistake. We had put too much power into being able to feel into the anklet. If someone holds onto the cuff long enough, they will see everything – they will know the truth. They'll learn you aren't at fault and that we are…I guess because we put so much memory and power in that invention, it spills the info onto anyone who comes in contact with it."

"My nightmares," Wario gasped, "I dreamed because of the cuff!"

Tabuu nodded, "You would be correct in assuming that. The angel…what's his name…"

"Pit?"

"Yeah, Pit…he touched the cuff often enough that he'll soon see flickers of what happened. Mephiles found out that Pit was holding the cuff, and he wanted to make sure the angel wouldn't take it and find out the truth. Of course, he tried to rape Pit; that wouldn't have ended well…"

"What the fuck is wrong with you two? Horny bastards…"

The boss just laughed, "Well, you can't blame him. I miss our nightly adventures with Sonic too; but he went home now, so we can't see him anymore. So, do you have any more questions, Wario? Or did I cover it all?"

"A few," Wario gulped, beginning to remember more incidents, "Who exactly is Mephiles, and how does he know Sonic? How much power do you guys actually have? What about the storm, and the poison? What exactly did each of you do to him? What does L.A. stand for, and why are you watching it? Are you guys going to be found out? And…what are you going to do with me now?"

Tabuu snorted, "That's not a few questions."

"Do I get them answered, or not?"

The butterfly sighed, "Yeah, yeah…to start with, Mephiles was a hedgehog, almost like Sonic, except colored differently…although with my power I helped him morph into a temporary more humanoid form. I don't know why he wished for it, but it was alright with me. You'll see that later, I suppose. How he knows Sonic – they're enemies, apparently. Although there doesn't seem to be any records of them fighting, but whatever. The power? Good question…enough to force bodies to change shape. Notice that the shaydas now has four arms? A little upgrade Mephiles did…the storm and the poison were also Mephiles' doing. We had a little argument on over how to stop the first recording from coming, and during that time Mephiles stomped off, organized a group of Spaaks and sent them off to attack. We had upgraded them so in a pack they were a violent storm…and that made a good distraction to snatch the package, although it was quite overkill. As for the poison, I think Mephiles just wanted a good way to distract everybody and confuse those Brawlers even more. He made sure it wasn't a lethal dose when he placed it in the drink…I never asked."

"What about the rest?" Wario asked, still digesting the information Tabuu told him.

"What we did to Sonic? Anything we chose to! As I previously mentioned, Mephiles liked being violent with Sonic – beatings, spankings, humiliation – while I preferred just to take it slow and focus more on pleasure for myself than Sonic's pain. L.A. stands for Little Angel – our nickname for Sonic. He was our Little Angel of Pleasure and Pain; nothing more than a sex toy for us. Sometimes when we argued we wouldn't use L.A., but most of the time, that's what we called him. We're still watching Sonic to make sure he doesn't return to the Base – simply minor tracking. We can't tell what he's doing; whatever he does back home doesn't matter to us. No, we won't be found out; Sonic's too scared to tell anyone. Finally, what are we going to do with you…?"

Tabuu leaned back in his chair, "If the cuff makes people see the truth, you might too; your body was the one controlling it. You might not remember many things now, but I'm sure you will soon. You'll have to stay here, I guess."

"Here? In Subspace? With you two perverts?"

"Oh yeah…with both of us. But you won't be harmed, and we'll get started on figuring out how to reverse the effects of the 'truth seeing' the cuff does. We'll let you wander around, but you won't be escaping. Food and shelter will be provided. Other than that…there's not much else to say. If you have any more questions, feel free to come and find me. It's kind of fun to brag…" Tabuu laughed and snapped his fingers. The door appeared in the wall of the room, "Go now; I'm going to check up on our little blue angel again…" In a puff of blue smoke, Tabuu vanished.

Wario stared blankly at the empty chair, and he slowly let his head fall into his hands. What was going to happen to him now? Either he'd be trapped in Subspace forever or be carted off to prison.

Even though neither option was good, Wario couldn't deny the fact that after what he had done to Sonic, he deserved it.

_**I'm pretty sure I covered every detail, but if something is still unclear just leave me a review and I'll explain it later. Will I update later this week as well? I guess if people want me to. **_

_**Now that's what you call a plan, huh?**_


	26. The Hunts Begin

_**Yeah I'm sorry; this chapter is just lots of talking. But then it's out of the way, so I made it really loooooonnnnngggg just to get it over with. And I could have split this into two chapters, but I didn't just so you don't have to wait for something really exciting to happen. As well, you're lucky I even updated considering soon after I finished this chapter I got the news my cat was killed by a car. In other words, next part probably will be late, but I'll see what I can do…**_

"I can't do it, Shadow. I can't talk with him," Sonic whimpered softly, hugging Galaxy closer to his chest.

Shadow sighed and leaned against Sonic's closed bedroom door. The sapphire hedgehog was sitting on the edge of the bed, refusing to budge from his position. Of course, Shadow _had_ to be the only one available to pick up the psychiatrist, and he learned a number of disturbing facts about why the doctor was here. He still wasn't free to leave after he brought Dr. Nam; Sonic was now too frightened to see the psychiatrist, and Tails and Knuckles couldn't convince him otherwise. So now it was up to the dark one…

"Do you know how much trouble I went to in order to get him here? I hate spaceports; they're too damn slow. And don't get me started on the traffic!"

"I don't care! I just can't talk to him!"

"Why not? He already knows what happened, and so do I. Yet you're not too scared to speak with me."

"You could blow up my door and walk in anyways if you chose to."

"That's not the point. Is it that you don't trust him? Like, come on; years ago we were enemies, and now we're best fucking friends forever. If anything at all, you should be more wary of me, not him."

"No…I think he's fine."

"Then what's the big deal?"

Sonic shrugged and buried his face into the unicorn's plush.

"Is it the unicorn? Because I think it's awesome."

"No…but you don't really think the stuffy is cool…"

"Sure I do! Hell, I'll go and get a sparkly white and pink one and carry it around with me all day if you don't believe me!"

Sonic laughed softly and looked up, "You wouldn't, but it's an interesting image."

"I'm not sure where I could find one, but I would do it…and I would name it, 'Sassy'. Come to think of it, you seem to have a death grip on your little buddy there."

"I know…" Sonic moaned, clutching the stuffy even tighter. His face went back into the fluff.

"Why are you hugging it so hard?" Shadow asked, walking over to Sonic and sitting on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Makes it better," Sonic mumbled, his words muffled by the stuffing.

"Well I have to admit; murdering a stuffed animal is better than cutting yourself."

"I did that earlier…"

"What? Sonic, you promised you would stop! Where did you get a knife?"

"Not a knife. Scissors," Sonic whispered, "I just need to do it."

"But Sonic, you _promised_. Do I have to remove all objects in your vicinity sharper than a crayon?"

Sonic shook his head slightly and buried his face deeper into Galaxy's mane.

"No more cutting, you hear me? No more. Ok?" Shadow lifted Sonic's head out of hiding.

"Ok…" Sonic sighed.

"I understand it's hard to stop, but you need to. If you keep up with cutting, things can get worse."

"Really? How so?"

"Dr. Nam says you have a good chance of becoming addicted to other substances; maybe even falling into the same cycle of abuse if you don't get professional help."

Sonic's expression changed from fear to confusion, "What?"

"He means that you may end up being abused by someone again because that's what you learned."

"I wasn't taught to like being raped!" Sonic snapped.

"I know that, but you might not resist such actions because you'll automatically react to whatever Wario taught you to do."

"That's stupid; it won't happen."

A plan began forming in Shadow's mind. He had to convince Sonic somehow that he did need better help than his friends could offer. Shadow could think of a way, although it might scare Sonic for a while…

"What are you thinking of, Shadow? You look strange."

"Oh, nothing…" Shadow smiled evilly at Sonic, "So, are you positively sure that it won't happen again?"

"Yeah…I mean, come on; what's the chance of me being raped by two different people? I can fight back now. It's extremely unlikely." Sonic rolled his eyes.

"It's more likely that you'll have a crush and that person would hurt you. Wouldn't it be terrible if someone you truly trusted forced you into having sex?"

"Well, if I liked them that way I guess it wouldn't be as bad…it would be horrible, but easier to take..."

"Good, very good…"

"Huh? Shadow, what are you planning?"

Shadow laughed quietly before looking Sonic in the eyes, "If you're not up to talking to a shrink…maybe I can get away with this."

Sonic's eyes became fearful, and he only had time to say, "What?" before Shadow pressed his lips onto Sonic's.

The blue hedgehog froze in shock and didn't move an inch as the black hedgehog's hands traced their way down his sides and onto his hips. Shadow began massaging Sonic while he bit lightly on Sonic's lower lip, demanding entrance. Wario had often pinched Sonic's lips in order to get him to open his mouth, and Sonic reacted in the same way as before. With no hesitation he made room for Shadow, who forced his tongue inside. Shadow moved his tongue around in Sonic's mouth, tracing his teeth and lips, but Sonic made no effort to kiss Shadow back. He was just too scared to do anything but hold onto Galaxy. _"Shadow, why are you doing this to me? It was bad enough with Wario, but with you? Am I just doomed to be a sex slave?" _

Eventually Shadow broke the kiss off, and both hedgehogs gasped for air. Sonic was trembling but said nothing; the part of him that told him to fight back had been taken over by the part that said 'Just let him do whatever he wants with you and it'll be over soon enough. You deserve it.'

Shadow began kissing Sonic again, and this time moved his hands even lower on Sonic's shaking body. Sonic winced when he felt Shadow's hands slide under his rear and squeeze, but once again he did nothing to stop him.

In one quick movement Shadow flipped Sonic onto his back and straddled him. He grabbed under Sonic's arms and pulled farther up the bed so they were lying fully on it. Shadow grabbed Galaxy's horn and pulled; even though it was barely a tug Sonic let go. Shadow moved the stuffy off to the side and placed his knees on the outside of Sonic's hips. He moved forward and kissed Sonic again, whose only reaction was to grip his blankets in fear, his mind screaming, _"Please no, not you Shadow! I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared…" _

Shadow rubbed Sonic's stomach, mussing up the peach fur there. The other hand moved slowly down, and went between Sonic's legs. Sonic could feel Shadow's hand right near his entrance, and he braced himself for penetration.

Nothing happened, however. Shadow withdrew his hand and rubbed the inside of Sonic's thighs; first the right, then the left. He went back and forth between the two for some time, always making sure to come close to Sonic's entrance while switching sides. Sonic made no effort to fight back.

The black hedgehog left a trail of kisses on Sonic's cheek and moved down to his neck. He licked and kissed multiple spots, trying to get some sort of reaction out of the blue one, but Sonic did nothing but quiver in fear.

"So, Sonic," Shadow finally said, looking at his captive in the eyes, "How shall we do this? Do you want to see my face as I fuck you, or would you rather do it like dogs?"

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, searching through his mind as quickly as possible. What would Wario want him to respond? It was weird; after just a few days he had completely forgotten how to ignore everything happening to him during a rape. He should pick the second option; at least that way he could pretend it was Wario and not Shadow. Now, how should he say it…?

"Come on, Sonic. It's not that hard…and it's going to hurt like hell either way. But you're not going to scream; I'll hold that muzzle of yours shut so you suffer in silence as I stick something much bigger than Wario's up your ass…" Shadow laughed, "So what will it be?"

"Hump me like the filthy animal I am. I need your huge cock up my ass. Fuck me, Shadow." _"There; that should satisfy him."_

Shadow nodded, and he flipped Sonic around so he was on his hands and knees. Sonic was shaking so much he nearly collapsed, but having Shadow's hands on his hips forced his lower half to stay up. His arms failed him entirely, making him lay partially limp against the covers.

Sonic didn't feel the ebony hedgehog's erection near his entrance; actually, he hadn't even seen it, but that didn't mean Shadow wasn't going to slam the entire thing in with no mercy whatsoever. This was going to hurt; Shadow would be able to grind in so deep…it was going to hurt…

"Are you ready …" Shadow asked softly.

"Yeah…" Sonic whispered. No, he wasn't; he never felt more betrayed in his life. Somebody he trusted was going to rape him…what was he doing to provoke these attacks? He had to make it stop, make it stop…Sonic shut his eyes in fear, just waiting for Shadow to enter him. Shadow's last sentence kept circling around in his head, 'Are you ready – '

"…to see Dr. Nam?" The sapphire hedgehog collapsed when Shadow removed his hands from the other's hips. He rolled over to see the ebony hedgehog sitting cross-legged with his hands in his lap.

"What? What are you talking about? Aren't you going to take me?" Sonic was downright confused.

"Don't you understand? I just proved to you that you won't resist another sexual assault. You could have stopped me, Sonic. You could have fought back, bit me when I was kissing you, screamed – anything to get away. But you didn't do a thing. If I wanted to rape you right then, I could have." The ebony hedgehog grabbed Galaxy and handed him back to the sapphire one, "Lucky for you I wasn't serious, but if someone was…that would have been a disaster."

Sonic slowly took Galaxy while Shadow's words sunk in. Then he burst out, "You fucking bastard! How could you trick me like that? I thought you were going to rape me! I swear if you ever pull a dirty feint like that again I will –" He trailed off when Shadow gave him a quick peck on the lips.

The blue hedgehog blinked in shock after the black one pulled back, and Shadow sighed, "That was to make you quiet…I know you're mad, but you also know I'm right. Dr. Nam will make sure that will never happen to you." He got off of the bed and gestured for Sonic to take his hand, "Well?"

Sonic looked up, and he took Shadow's hand, "Ok, I'll see him."

"Alright Sonic!" Shadow smiled and pulled Sonic into a hug after hauling the blue hedgehog to his feet, "By the way, you never answered my question on why you didn't want to see Nam."

Sonic tucked Galaxy under one arm and whispered, "I had a bad dream last night. It was so real that I woke up close to screaming. I grabbed Galaxy and just held him for hours…it made me feel safer. I don't want to leave this spot. I want to stay here where Wario can't hurt me…or, at least, I can pretend for some time he can't hurt me." Sonic looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"Oh," Shadow whispered, "You feel bad about having to heavily rely on a stuffed animal for comfort, right?" Sonic nodded.

Shadow was quiet for a moment, but then he said, "I know! What if I stayed with you tonight?"

"Huh?"

"I'll sleep in your bed right beside you. Nobody can get past the two of us, right?"

"The cuff, Shadow…the cuff…"

"There's only one of the damn things! And if there is more than one, I'll let myself be raped while you go get help. You'll never be hurt again; I'll be your obedient watchdog…or is that, 'watch-hedgehog'? Oh never mind; you get the picture."

"You'll do that…for me?" Sonic smiled slightly, looking up at Shadow.

"Of course; but first, you must see Dr. Nam. Ok?"

"Ok…I'll see him."

"And you'll see him tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on until you're better?"

"Yes, I will."

"Cool! Let's go!" Shadow pulled Sonic out of the room.

"Hey, you got Sonic to see him! Nice work, Shadow!" Knuckles slapped Shadow a high five once Sonic was alone with Dr. Nam in another room, "But it certainly took you a long time. How'd you do it?"

"Oh, it just required a special form of convincing. On another note, do you know where a hedgehog can get his hands on a sparkly white and pink unicorn stuffy?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Where the hell is he?" Pikachu ran up to Link and Kirby, "I can't find Wario anywhere!"

"Me neither…he's vanished into thin air!" Meta Knight joined the other three.

"This is crazy! He was here last night, so why'd he choose today to disappear? It's not like he knew about the tests…" Link trailed off.

"How could he have known? He's not exactly the brightest bulb on the Kwanza tree." Kirby said.

"'Not exactly the brightest bulb on the Kwanza tree'? You're not the shining star of intelligence either, Kirb." Meta Knight replied.

"I knew what I was saying! I was just being overly sarcastic…"

"Hey guys, come to the kitchen!" Pit waved at the others from down the hall.

"What is it?" Link called back.

"It's what started the fire this morning…come check it out!"

XXXXXXXXX

"So that's why you didn't want to tell me earlier about what was going on, right?" The psychiatrist glanced up at his patient. The two of them were alone in a small study with two couches. Sonic was sitting on the couch in front of the window and holding onto a stuffed blue winged unicorn. Slowly, he nodded.

"Didn't you think that if you told, you could have hidden while Wario was taken care of?"

"I dunno…he seemed to have this sixth sense or something…he always knew where I was and what I was doing; especially if it put his plot in jeopardy."

"Your powers mean a lot to you, don't they?"

"Yeah," Sonic sniffed, "Having the ability to run so fast makes me feel free…I just couldn't give it up. So I let him do it…but now I sometimes wish I changed my mind."

"You were in a really tight spot. He really had you wrapped around his finger, didn't he?"

"Yeah…" Sonic sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. The sunlight from the window behind him lit up the wooden floor. He stared at the block of light instead of looking up at the therapist sitting across from him on another couch.

"What made you finally decide to call home and get away?"

"Don't want to talk about it," Sonic muttered.

"I know it's hard, but this is extremely important for your mental health. Did Wario make you do something too nasty and you just had enough?"

Sonic didn't reply, so Dr. Nam went on, "Ok, we'll drop that for now. Here's something else; why did you stop eating before?"

"I felt so disgusted with myself I couldn't swallow anything. I tried for a few days, but then just gave up and starved."

"Eventually you started eating normally again, but Tails says now you don't eat much. Is it for the same reason?" Sonic nodded.

"Why do you feel so bad about yourself?"

"Because I was raped. Why else?"

Dr. Nam shook his head sadly, "Rape happens to a lot of people, Sonic. You're not alone."

"None of the other heroes I know have had this happen."

"You don't know that for certain. Maybe another one did a long time ago, but they put it behind them now."

"I don't see how somebody can do that. I feel like everything's been taken away from me." A few tears rolled down Sonic's cheeks.

"Only time can heal your wounds. Don't beat yourself up if you think you're not healing as fast as you should be."

"How long should I wait?"

Dr. Nam sighed, "It won't be days. It could be weeks, months; possibly years. Personally I hope you'll be able to move on in a couple of months, but everyone's different. I can't make any guesses for you."

"Mm…" Sonic sighed and sat up again, but he still wouldn't look at the therapist.

"Now that I know the entire story, Sonic, I'd like to move onto your recovery. I'll ask you a number of questions, and you'll have to be completely honest with me if we want this to work out. For now I'm just going to skim the surface, and then we'll work on going deeper into each section. Are you ready?"

Sonic nodded, still looking at the ground, "Fire away."

XXXXXXXXX

After the other four Brawlers joined Pit in the kitchen, the angel pulled out a much burnt piece of paper.

"This was stuck inside the toaster, for some reason. When Crazy turned it on, the toaster lit on fire because this was next to the metal. It's like someone wrote a note and thought about leaving it behind, but then changed their mind and decided to get rid of it." Pit spread the blackened letter on the island. The bottom half of the letter crumpled a little, leaving small traces of ashes.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Pikachu poked the paper, and a little bit more of the note turned to dust.

"There are only three decipherable lines, but read them."

"'We've got him', 'like a prisoner' and 'shattered, so this is my revenge'," Meta Knight read out loud.

"Lighting a toaster on fire was someone's idea of revenge?" Pikachu asked, confused.

"No, it was burnt, not shattered…"

"Who left this note anyways, and if they didn't want it seen why didn't they take it with them?" Link asked.

"Who knows? But it sounds like they've kidnapped somebody…"

"If they've kidnapped somebody from the Base, the only possible Brawler is Wario." The five turned to see Crazy Hand with the giant tulip, "Nobody's seen him all day, and I don't think he was here most of the night as well."

"How can you be so sure?" Kirby asked.

"There was a spilt glass of milk on the table that wasn't there at one in the morning, and it smelled slightly of garlic…must be Wario's. Tsk, usually Brawlers are quite good with cleaning up their dishes…" Crazy put the tulip-thing down and began to fill a watering can.

"Only because you'll hunt them down and whack them with a frying pan if they don't clean up," Pikachu muttered.

"You were up at one in the morning?" Pit asked.

"Oh sure…night's the greatest time to get things done! Especially since I can take Taco for a walk and not lose sight of him!" Crazy Hand patted the emo purple tulip.

"Uh…plants don't walk around by themselves…" Link said, concerned. The five Brawlers exchanged glances. Crazy Hand was completely insane.

"This one does! He's a Screaming Tulip!"

"It's a _what_?" the Brawlers said in unison.

"He's a Screaming Tulip! Watch…Taco, speak!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Ouch, my ears are bleeding! Shut up, Taco!" Pikachu clamped his hands over his ears, along with everyone else in the room except the Hand.

The tulip literally stepped out of its pot. It was nine feet tall, had long stem legs, stem arms and a dark hole for a mouth. It never stopped screaming as it hopped off of the counter and ran out of the room.

"Uh oh, that's not good…Taco, wait up!" Crazy Hand chased the tulip out of the room, water dripping from the watering can he was still holding.

"For everyone's sake, we need Master Hand back in charge! Crazy's got a fucking screeching flower that kills your eardrums!" Meta Knight rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of his headache.

"Well, you have to admit, that was pretty awesome…" Kirby looked through the door where both crazies had gone.

"Don't get any ideas, Kirby!" Pit said, his ears ringing.

"Alright, alright…I won't have a pet nine-foot tall flower. I want a tiger! Or a shark! Or maybe…"

"What about a pet hedgehog named Sonic that went home after being raped by a fellow Brawler?" Link asked.

"Yeah, it would be nice to have him back…but a hedgehog? That would be pretty cute…although I don't think Sonic would appreciate being locked in a cage; and where would I keep him?"

Pikachu laughed, "I like the idea of seeing Sonic running on a hamster wheel."

"Forget about a pet for now; we've got to do something about Master Hand. He'll only come back if Sonic is ok again. And don't forget; Wario is gone. We should go to Sonic's home world and speak with him; that shadow said Sonic had something important. It might even lead us to where Wario's hiding. Surely Sonic will see us," Link said.

"Let's go soon…for all we know a tulip is only the start. Next thing it could be a dragon!" Meta Knight went quiet with the thought.

"Considering Crazy Hand's naming skills, it'll probably be called 'Cuddles' to boot!" Pikachu hopped off of his chair and left the room to begin preparations.

XXXXXXXXX

"First question, Sonic. How often did it hurt you physically when you were raped?" Dr. Nam had a writing pad ready to write down Sonic's responses.

"Nearly every time…sometimes he'd let my body adjust or use lubricant, but most of the time he didn't give a damn and just fucked me."

"Did you ever bleed?"

"Constantly…and he wouldn't stop if I was bleeding."

"Do those areas of your body still hurt?"

"No…I got some sort of cream from him to dull the pain. I still use it…"

"Wario gave it to you to make it less suspicious you were hurt, right?"

"Yep."

"I'm worried at the sound of that, Sonic. That cream could be disguising a problem. You need to go to the hospital and have yourself checked out."

"For what? AIDS? Some other STD?" Sonic shook his head, "I'm pretty sure I didn't get a disease from him…"

"I don't mean for that; it's because anal sex is quite dangerous, especially since it was forced upon you, violent and you're young. If you've bled nearly every time, there's a good chance you have an infection from being raped, and there's little doubt in my mind that there wasn't some sort of physical damage done."

"Isn't that just fucking fantastic…now I'll have more scars to show for this…" Sonic moaned and flopped over on the couch. He pulled his legs up so he was now laying sideways and pushed Galaxy closer to his feet.

"You are going to get checked, aren't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I will…next question."

"Alright…are you scared of anything?"

"What kind of question is that?" Sonic sat up again, "Of course I'm scared! I'm terrified every moment of Wario coming back and hurting me again! Why wouldn't I be?"

"I meant more along the lines of panic attacks, or if you feel the need to get away or stay close to everyone; like a phobia."

"Oh…I don't really have panic attacks…but I feel safer around someone."

"Is that the reason for the unicorn?" Dr. Nam motioned to Galaxy with his pen.

"Yeah…" Sonic sighed and cuddled the stuffy.

"Did you take it to bed with you?"

"Yes, but he didn't help much. It took some time after I woke up…" Sonic trailed off.

"You're having nightmares of the assaults, right?"

"Yeah…" Sonic sighed, "They're so real I wake up every night terrified. Last night I had Galaxy, so it was a little better, but before I was all alone…I was so scared. And I feel stupid for hugging a stuffed animal for four hours instead of getting up and holding onto a friend."

"Ah…I see a connection here. The only time you were spared from a rape was the night of the storm. Pit and Link were with you, so Wario didn't touch you. Your mind has now made the connection that if you can confirm someone else is nearby when you're sleeping Wario won't rape you. Galaxy helped fulfill that need last night, but I think you may want to sleep in the same room as someone else for some time."

"Shadow said he'd stay with me tonight."

"Good! Now, I must ask; what exactly are you dreams about? Are you reliving the assaults every time?"

"Sometimes I do; other times it's a different rape…one that never occurred."

"What usually occurs in these 'dream rapes', the ones that never really happened?"

"Most of the time…it's just Wario…putting things inside of me…"

"What kind of things? Do you mean his penis?"

Sonic flinched at the word, "Well, yeah…but sometimes it's his fingers or some sort of vibrator…but no matter what, it hurts."

"A vibrator? But Wario never used sex toys on you…did he?"

"No…I dream about him using sex toys on me, but…"

"But what?"

"I…sometimes…well…liked it."

"Liked what?"

"The sex."

"You liked having sex with Wario?"

"Sometimes…when he went in really deep…it felt kind of good…" Sonic looked up at the psychiatrist, "What's wrong with me, Nam? Am I a masochist? Or maybe I'm gay? Or just…completely fucked up?"

"Sonic, I think what simply happened was that he hit your prostate. It may have given you pleasure, but that means _nothing_. You couldn't control that feeling. It doesn't matter if you enjoyed it; if you didn't consent to have sex, it's wrong."

"If you say so…" Sonic sighed, "But…what if I am gay?"

"Would that bother you?"

"No; it would only bother me if I found out I was from being raped by a guy."

"Interesting…I can see where you get these feelings from."

"What? How?"

"Sometimes you felt pleasure from being raped, and that contributed to having dreams of Wario using sex toys on you. Then it rises to feelings that having sex with a male feels good; hence your suspicions of your sexual orientation."

Sonic looked up in shock, "How the hell do you deduce all of that?"

Dr. Nam laughed, "Haven't you ever wondered why my logo is a key? It's because I have a reputation of being able to open people's minds and get right down to what is exactly causing them to do certain actions or have certain feelings. I always hit the target or come extremely close to doing so."

"So that's why Master Hand hired you. You're really good."

"Well, thanks. I try my best." Dr. Nam ripped off another page and put it aside, "Now we have to move on to the cutting…" Sonic winced.

"Are you trying to stop?"

"Yes, but it's hard."

"I understand that…when and why do you self harm?"

"I do it whenever I'm alone and…everything gets overwhelming. Like I'm going to explode. So when I cut, it makes it easier to handle."

"A coping mechanism; a bad one, but it could be worse. I think the more you rely on your friends for comfort instead of pain you'll begin to stop. But for now I want to make sure you can't get your hands on any sharp objects."

"Wonderful…I'll have withdrawal symptoms from that."

Dr. Nam sighed, "Cutting can become an addiction. I do hope you're not that focused on it, otherwise it'll be much harder to quit."

"Believe me, I do too."

"By the way, Sonic…how did those pills I gave you work out?"

Sonic sighed, "You might as well know….I overdosed. Took about half the bottle in one gulp."

"What? Did you do it by accident? That would have been enough to kill you! Or was that the point…?"

"…The second one…"

"Sonic, I never realized how much was going on in your head. When did you try committing suicide?"

"The night I called home. I barely stopped myself from dying…I guess that's when I finally realized I couldn't take it anymore."

"Do you still want to kill yourself?"

"Not anymore."

Dr. Nam sighed in relief, "At least you made some progress. But there certainly is a lot going on with you; anxiety, mood swings, depression, night terrors, self harm, anorexia…you are obviously suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder."

"I haven't had these symptoms for very long…"

"I don't think it matters; your mind clearly isn't stable. It's almost ironic how this works; you're so used to being able to jump around and swap methods when needed, yet when you did that here it just made things worse."

"So what are you going to do about it? And what do I have anyways?"

"Specifically you're probably going to develop rape trauma syndrome…as for what I'm going to do, drugs don't seem to be the best option anymore, unless a friend is the one who watches them and makes sure you don't overdose."

"Knuckles or Shadow could do that; they're just as strong as I am, so they would be able to prevent me from taking too much."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Other than that, keeping up with therapy should help me plan what to do next. As of right now, Sonic, do you have any questions?"

Sonic was quiet for a moment, but then he asked softly, "Doctor, are…are all of the times I had sex with Wario…rapes? I did consent to have sex with him after the first two…"

"You were threatened into having sex with him, and he physically harmed you if you refused to do so. If you had a choice, you would have said, 'no'. That's still rape."

"Oh…" Sonic leaned back against the couch, and he looked at the floor again.

Dr. Nam looked at the hedgehog, and then he asked, "Here's a question I should have asked you before…whose fault is it that you were raped?"

"Huh?" Sonic looked up again.

"You heard me, Sonic. Who's to blame here for your pain?"

Sonic only thought for a moment before whispering, "Me."

XXXXXXXXX

"Well, even though we know where Sonic is from, we don't have a clue what his address is or who he's staying with." Link and Meta Knight walked down the hallway to Master Hand's office together.

Meta Knight replied, "I know, so we're going to have to get it. Cross your fingers." He knocked loudly on the door, "Open up! We have something extremely important to tell you!"

No response.

"Enough moping! We need to speak with you now!" Link called. There was no reply.

Kirby caught up to the other two, slipped in front and then banged on the wood, "Open the god-damned mother fucking door!"

Now that got the hand's attention. The door swung open and the hand snapped, "What do you want?"

"It was Wario. He raped Sonic and now he's gone. We need to find him. He can't get away with this," Link quickly explained before Master Hand could shut them out again.

The hand hung in the air for a few seconds, and then he growled, "Get everyone together in the auditorium. I don't care if we have to search for weeks; we're going to catch this mother fucker." He floated past the group and disappeared down a hallway; barking an order at somebody there.

"But Master Hand, we need – oh, forget it. We'll have to get it later," Link sighed and shook his head.

Meta Knight laughed, "Who cares? Wario is completely fucked now. Maybe he can outrun a small group, but he can't get away from all of us! That bitch is going down!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Why do you say it's your fault, Sonic?" Dr. Nam asked the blue hedgie.

"It has to be," Sonic whimpered, "It doesn't make sense otherwise."

"How does it make sense that you're the one who caused this to happen?"

"Because I could have stopped Wario from raping me, but I didn't. If I fought back, he would have just left on the cuff and then left me alone. It's my fault."

"I doubt it, Sonic. Wario probably would have raped you anyways, although he would have been less likely to try oral rape. He went to so much trouble to make sure nobody would know, so I'm sure he would have stopped at nothing in order to have you."

"It doesn't matter; even if that's true, it's still my fault."

"Didn't it ever occur to you that you had no control whatsoever in the rapes? You couldn't have stopped him by yourself. I understand how you might be blaming yourself because you didn't tell, but you've told someone now. This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is! It has to be!" Sonic stood up and began pacing, "I could have told someone, but I didn't. I let it continue. It's my entire fault."

"What about the first time, Sonic? You didn't know what was going to happen. Whose fault was it then?"

"It's still mine. I'm to blame for all of this!"

"How was it your fault then?"

Sonic stopped pacing with his back to the psychiatrist, "I don't know! All I know is that there's something about me that made Wario rape me at the start. I just don't know what it is." Sonic slumped back onto the couch, "Maybe it's my attitude or something I did to him. But it must have been so bad that I deserved to be raped. See? It's my fault."

It was quiet for a little while, and then Dr. Nam softly said, "You're certainly one of the most interesting people I've ever met. This is the first time I've met somebody who has both types of self blame; behavioral and personal. That means you blame yourself for what happened because of something you should have done differently, and you add even more blame onto yourself because you believe something's wrong with you, causing you to deserve to be assaulted."

"I did deserve it…I just don't know what's wrong with me." Tear drops fell out of Sonic's eyes, making paths down his cheeks in his sapphire blue fur. He took a few deep breaths, but otherwise cried in silence.

"Here," Dr. Nam handed Sonic a box of tissues, "It's ok to cry. It helps you feel better by getting rid of those extra chemicals in your brain."

"You always state your reasons for everything, don't you?" Sonic sobbed, but grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes.

"At least that way it will make sense. But you're not making sense; it's never, _ever_ the victim's fault. First and foremost, it's Wario's fault, but you could blame a number of people for not stopping this. You could blame the Hands for not checking in deeper, the other Brawlers for not paying enough attention to you, your friends for not trying harder to check on you – even me for not taking your problems as seriously as I should have. The _last_ person at fault here is you."

"But…but…then why? Why did Wario rape me? Why? He could have taken anyone else, so why me? I _have_ to have done something to deserve it! There has to be _some_ reason for him choosing me! There's something wrong with me, isn't there? I need to fix it so this doesn't happen again…I'm pathetic; I let myself get raped. What's wrong with me?" Sonic burst out crying and couldn't say anything else.

Dr. Nam sat down beside Sonic and rubbed his back, "Sh…it's ok, Sonic. Listen to me. Nobody would think you're weak or pathetic for being raped. You had no choice. I would have done the same thing in your situation; keep on letting the rapist come back so I was able to keep my powers…I know many ask you to be strong for everyone sometimes, but no one's asking you to be invincible. You're a friend to so many people, Sonic, and you're a hero, and nothing that has happened could make you anything less."

Sonic just cried even harder, more because of confusion than shame, "H-how ca-can I be-be-be a he-he-hero and-and a whore at the s-same t-t-time?" Dr. Nam sighed softly, and he stood up and went to the door. A few moments later, Sonic wrapped his arms around a black hedgehog and let the ebony fur help wipe away his tears.

XXXXXXXXX

It was a long explanation, filled with pain and anger. But after the five Brawlers were through speaking, everyone was completely filled with a thirst for Wario's blood.

"That son of a bitch! If I get my hands on him, I'm going to smash his head open!" Marth snapped, and immediately six others agreed.

"Save a piece of him for me! He'll pay for doing this to Sonic…" Red growled. Charizard roared in response.

Falco turned to the five Brawlers up front, "Do you guys have any clue where he went?"

"No, but his pendant is still at the Base. He must still be in the Smasher's World. And we'll find him…not matter what it takes, we'll find him," Pit summoned his bow and split it into swords, "The hunt is on!"

_**Here's a question I'm interested to hear the answer to; if you were stuck in Sonic's situation, would you have told somebody right away, or try to keep it a secret first? Remember what's at stake!**_


	27. Growing Confidence

_**Oh, yeah…I never answered my own question, did I? Personally I would have kept it a secret…I mean come on; you've had these powers your entire life and suddenly you may lose them for good? I'd hate that…the secret probably would come out sooner or later, but I would try to hide it first.**_

"No luck today," Snake sighed, shaking his head, "And we've only covered a small part of the planet."

It was well past midnight, but nobody had eaten supper yet. So it was a simple hot dog and marshmallow roast over a campfire for dinner after a long day of fruitless searching. There was no sign of Wario anywhere. The Ice Climbers, who had stayed behind, confirmed that Wario did not return to the Base.

"He can't hide forever," Ness snapped, "There isn't enough wild food around here that's good for humans. He'll have to return at some point."

"I'm going to try bringing Typhoon along to sniff him out," Crazy said, motioning to a collie. Typhoon, upon hearing his name, lifted his black and white head and let out a bark. The dog was part of a series of 'disaster' named animals, "He was trained to detect people; I'm sure he'll be able to help us hunt him down."

"Fine," Master Hand said, "Anything to catch Wario. I never knew Wario had it in him to rape another Brawler…what caused him to do this?"

"Who knows? Maybe he just hated Sonic," Captain Falcon replied.

"But then why didn't Sonic tell?" Olimar questioned.

"Something to do with that cuff; I'm sure of it," Pikachu muttered.

"And with that strange aura…" Lucario added.

"We'll find out soon enough…I'm going to bed. 'Night everyone," Mario stood up and stretched, and one by one everyone slowly followed him inside.

XXXXXXXXX

"_Wario, please don't hurt me anymore! I swear I didn't mean to –" The belt came down on the back of his legs again, silencing the pleading hedgehog._

"_Shut up, you filthy whore. You know perfectly well what you did, and you're going to pay for it." Wario brought down his belt again, leaving another ugly welt on Sonic's skin._

"_Please," Sonic tried begging again, "It was an accident. I didn't want this to happen! It was a mistake!"_

"_A mistake? Don't you have any clue how this has hurt me?" After another dozen hits, Wario stepped back to admire his work. Sonic was bent over the bed, and his ankles were tied together and to one of the bed's legs. His wrists were bound behind his back, and his rear and legs were now covered in red, stinging welts. A collar placed around Sonic's neck was attached to an elastic cord and stretched across the bed, and then tied to the bathroom doorknob across the room. If Sonic tried to stand, the cord would snap him back into place._

"_I didn't know that you were going to be trapped because of me! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sonic sobbed, knowing that all of his pleas weren't going to stop Wario from hurting him again. _

_Wario laughed and stepped behind the blue hedgehog. Sonic heard the familiar sounds of Wario getting ready to enter him, "You fucking slut. I'm going to pound you until you bleed and scream for mercy, but no mercy shall come. You've stopped me before, but you won't stop me this time!" Sonic turned his head slightly, and was shocked to see not Wario standing there, but a look-alike of himself. This copy was blackish-blue with light blue tips on the ends of his quills. The same light fur covered his chest, muzzle and hands. But what really got to Sonic was the fact this double had red, glowing eyes._

"_Who are you?" Sonic managed to say._

_The clone laughed, "You know me – in fact, all of your friends know me; you just don't remember me. But let me help you do so…" Sonic screamed when the double thrust inside and continued pounding into his aching body. Eventually his yells turned to soft whimpers, but the copy's pace never slowed. _

_Sonic felt blood running down his legs, and with one final grunt, he knew semen soon would join that flow. The double pulled out of his victim and moved around so Sonic could see him clearly. _

"_Ah yes, Sonic…you say you don't remember me? I'm sure you do…you just need help to do so. Maybe we'll meet in person, and then it shall all come back to you." The clone laughed, "Until then, I shall satisfy myself with haunting your dreams and using you like the little slut you are!" _

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic woke up completely terrified. He was panting heavily and trembling, which woke up the hedgehog next to him.

"Hey, Sonic…did you have bad dream?" Shadow whispered sleepily, hugging Sonic close.

"Yeah," Sonic replied, and he went on to describe the event in detail.

When Sonic finished, the black hedgehog replied, "Odd…personally I don't know anybody like that. It kind of reminds me of me and you…but there's nobody else out there who has our body type."

"But it was so real…" Sonic whimpered and snuggled into Shadow's chest.

Shadow stroked Sonic's quills and whispered back, "Hey, hey, it's alright, Sonic…nobody can hurt you. I'm right here. Go to sleep." He continued stroking Sonic, and after a few minutes Sonic let out a sigh and fell back asleep. This time he was able to sleep through the night without waking up, but he did have a strange dream; he didn't even know what to think of it. It was simply…awkward…

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic, however, wasn't the only one with nightmares. Back at the Smasher's Base, an angel tossed back and forth on his bed, kicking the covers onto the floor. He was having a very bad dream…

XXXXXXXXX

"_Cute little hedgehog…you feel so good…" Pit was sitting against a wall, completely tied up. He had a gag so he couldn't speak, and a blindfold on so he couldn't see. His wrists were tied together, as well as his ankles. He could hear poor Sonic's screams of pain, followed by the other's maniacal laughter. After some time, his blindfold was lifted off, and Pit could finally see his captor._

_It was the figure who had attacked him the bathroom, although now he could see him clearly. The figure had snow-white skin and dark eyes. His hair was dark blue with streaks of lighter blue through it. He was about six feet tall, and didn't have three arms. He was wearing a simple blue t-shirt and jeans, as well as blue and white boots. No mistaking it; this was the same guy; the voice was even exactly the same._

"_Hello, pretty cupid. Were you interested in what just happened to your blue-quill friend?" Pit snarled through his gag, and his captor laughed, "Don't worry about that; I've already visited him tonight. Now it's time that I showed you…or at least_ _I can prevent you from seeing too much…" The figure grabbed a handful of Pit's hair and dragged him across the room to another door. He kicked it open and then pulled the angel inside to a room with only a single king-sized bed in it. After turning around and shutting the door, he picked Pit up and dropped him on the bed._

_Pit glared at the figure and struggled, trying to break free of his bonds. His captor just laughed and snapped something onto Pit's ankle. It was the cuff that Wario had._

"_That'll keep you from going anywhere," he chuckled, untying Pit. Once just one of Pit's hands was free he delivered a punch straight to his captor's nose. While it did make the figure wince, the he otherwise was pretty much unbothered by it. That should have broken the guy's nose! What the heck was going on?_

"_It's time to see the truth, huh angel?" The figure laughed and began to undress Pit, who fought to try and stop him. His sandals were easily removed with the help of a knife, as well as his tops. As for his shorts, the figure pinned Pit's upper body down with one hand and slowly removed them with the other, drawing out the process. Pit tried with all of his strength to force him off, but it was impossible. In the end, Pit was lying on the bed completely naked, while the figure looked down at him in adoration._

"_You're absolutely beautiful…just like that hedgehog, but in a different form." The figure kissed Pit's toned chest, "You're going to feel so good…" He slowly began to undress himself with one hand, while the other pinned the angel to the bed._

_Outside, Pit appeared calm, but inside, he was panicking. If this guy was going to do the same things to Pit that had happened to Sonic…_

_Oh no. Please no._

_Once the figure was ready, he moved up and sat on Pit's hips, holding him down. He then grabbed Pit's wrists and forced them over his head. With a bit of rope, he tied Pit's hands to the headboard. Pit struggled as hard as he could, but he couldn't get away. _

"_Here's the deal, Pit. If you do whatever I say and are a good little angel, I won't make that cuff permanent. But if you do…say goodbye to your abilities forever." _

"_Do what? And what do you mean I'll lose my powers? And who the fuck are you?" _

"_If you fight back, you're doomed. As for the other two, it doesn't matter…I'm just going to fuck you and go. Open your mouth, Pit. And if I feel teeth…you're dead." _

_Pit bit his lip nervously, and his captor sighed, "Perhaps I need to be more convincing?" He held the knife to Pit's throat, "Does that convince you, cupid?"_

_Pit shuddered in terror, but he opened his mouth anyways. The figure thrust inside, and Pit gagged at the taste and feel of the erection in his mouth. His captor moaned and picked up the pace, forcing Pit to swallow in order to have enough air. Eventually, however, his captor stopped and snarled, "Suck, angel, if you know what's good for you."_

_Pit slowly began sucking on the thing in his mouth, hoping that he would be finished soon. This guy was enjoying every single moment; whether from pleasure or watching Pit suffer, the angel didn't know. Once the figure came, he pulled out and slapped Pit hard across the cheek, "Swallow it, you whore."_

_Pit coughed but managed to swallow all of the disgusting semen. His stomach threatened to immediately vomit it all back up, but he forced himself to keep it down. _

_The figure then traced down Pit's stomach and between his legs, "My, my, what do we have here…"_

"_Don't do it…stop…" Pit whispered, "Why are you doing this?"_

_The figure looked up and smiled while spreading Pit's legs apart, "I'm doing this because I know you wish to know what happened to Sonic. And this is what happened to him that first night some time ago." He thrust into Pit immediately after he finished talking, and Pit let out a shout at the pain._

"_Heh, you're just like Sonic – so tight you can barely get inside on the first go…" The figure slammed again and again into the angel, and Pit cried out at each thrust, "I'm going to fuck you until you cry."_

_Eventually the initial pain began to dull, and Pit managed to keep himself under control. He bit his lip hard enough that it began to bleed in order to keep from screaming._

"_You're not going to cry either? Fine; I'll fuck you until I'm done." For some time the only sounds in the room were the figure's moans and Pit's whimpers. How could Sonic manage to take this every night? It felt like he was going to ripped right in half, and his body was more developed than Sonic's…it must have been even more painful for the hedgehog. But if Sonic could take it, so could he. Pit squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on his breathing so he wouldn't have to think about what was happening._

_After what seemed like years, the figure finished with Pit, who let out a sob of relief. His torture was finished._

_The figure stood up and dressed. When he was finished, he turned back to the angel, "By the way, Pit…you guys never got the police involved in this. Why?" He held up the knife to Pit's throat for emphasis to hear an answer._

"_Simple," Pit replied, "If we did, then suddenly Sonic's story would be broadcast by every news station across the universe…we didn't want that. We just threatened Sonic with the idea to make him tell us what happened…"_

_The figure chuckled, "Well, you now know. That's what it was like for Sonic…except imagine it happening every night for three weeks and each session lasting twice as long." He laughed and went to the door. When he opened it, Pit got a glance of a small clearing in a forest, coated with black goop. What caught Pit's eye was the fact that a small hedgehog was carved into one of the trees._

_The door then slammed shut, and the room was plunged into darkness. _

XXXXXXXXX

Pit woke up in shock, shaking. He sat up and quickly checked his body, but there were no signs of the rape on him. It was a dream, then; just a dream. A horrible, dreadful dream…but for Sonic, it was a reality…

Pit didn't care that it was three in the morning; he was getting up anyways. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep after that dream. He didn't bother dressing and just headed downstairs in his pajamas.

The angel went into the kitchen, and was surprised to see Master Hand there, warming up a cup of hot chocolate in the microwave, "Hello, Pit. I see you couldn't sleep either?" Pit nodded, not quite sure how Master Hand noticed him, "I'll make you a cup in a second. Lucario, here's yours." That would explain it. Lucario came into the room and took his cup of cocoa. He nodded to Pit, and the angel held up his hand in a silent greeting. After Pit had his cup, the three moved outside.

Pit and Lucario sat on two of the lawn chairs, and Master Hand floated between the two. They were silent for a few minutes, but then Lucario spoke, "Master Hand, I don't think Wario is anywhere on this world. I cannot sense any other auras around here. He's gone."

"That's impossible," Master Hand said, "All of the pendants are accounted for, including his own. There's no possible way he could have escaped."

"If you say so," Lucario sighed, "But my detection goes pretty far, and I have sensed nothing."

"We can get somebody to fly you around on their ship and skim over the place. You'll be able to cover the entire world in no time at all. Surely you'll spot him that way."

"I agree with Lucario, Master Hand. I don't think Wario's here." Pit took another sip of hot chocolate. Despite being a June night, it was chilly.

"Really? So where do you think he's gone?"

Pit sighed, "I'm not sure how to explain this…but I think he's somewhere else entirely. Let me tell you about my dream tonight…"

XXXXXXXXX

"How did you sleep last night, Sonic?" Knuckles asked, placing a large yellow pill in front of the hedgehog.

"Better than in a long time," Sonic replied, swallowing the pill with his juice. Knuckles had offered to take care of Sonic's pills and make sure he wouldn't overdose again. The three friends were extremely cautious around the blue hedgehog; now that they knew he had attempted suicide; the last thing they wished for was to push him close to the edge again.

"Good," Knuckles replied, ruffling Sonic's head quills. The doorbell rang, and Knuckles forced himself to smile at the hedgehog before leaving to get the door. But immediately as he opened it, he let his smile drop.

"Are you that upset at seeing me?" Dr. Nam asked, walking in.

"No…it's just that…" Knuckles sighed, "It's nothing."

"Really…" Dr. Nam asked, arching an eyebrow, "I think we should talk for a moment. Is Sonic ready?"

"No, he's still eating."

"Good," the psychiatrist replied, sitting down on the couch in the living room and motioning for Knuckles to do the same, "So, what's on your mind?"

"I'm worried about Sonic. I never knew he wished to kill himself," Knuckles whispered, "I don't want to lose him. He's one of my best friends."

"I wouldn't worry so much anymore, Knuckles. Sonic is doing so much better ever since you made him speak."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about…he never told me he wished to die. I just hope there isn't anything else he's hiding from me…" Knuckles sighed.

"You're really focused on helping him get better, aren't you?"

"Yeah…but it's hard to be happy around him knowing that he could have died because he was so depressed…"

"Maybe you should take some time off and go do something else," the therapist suggested.

"And risk the chance of losing him? I can't do that! His pain is all that's on my mind…how could I just wander off and pretend he's ok?"

"You should be able to do so and come back just fine. Maybe you're so focused because Sonic confessed everything to you first. That's a major step for him and has helped him a lot, so you should feel obligated to distract yourself a little. Unless…actually, I think that's a swell idea. Sonic could really use some quality friend-time. Perhaps if you take him on an outing of some sort, even just to the store, that'll help clear his mind of emotions. If you're focused on his pain, Sonic must be glued to it. What would be a good distraction?"

Knuckles thought for a moment, "Well, there's a theme park not too far from here, with roller coasters and the works. I'm sure that'll distract him. Besides, his birthday is coming up soon; that would be a pretty nice part to include for a gift."

"It is? When is his birthday?"

"The twenty-third. That's less than two weeks from now. We'll have to start planning a party of some sort for him."

"That's a good idea; you wouldn't want to miss his birthday on account of this…get over to that park and see if you can get some passes for tomorrow. Sonic will be sweet seventeen, huh?"

"Yep… I met him back when he was just becoming a teenager, and now he's almost an adult. So much has happened since then…how time flies."

XXXXXXXXX

Typhoon let out a loud bark, signaling the group to come to his position. He sniffed around the tree a bit more, and then barked again. Luigi, Pikachu, Diddy Kong, Lucario and Crazy Hand came to his side.

"Good puppy! Good boy!" Crazy Hand tossed the dog a treat, and he immediately gobbled it up.

"Is this what Pit was talking about?" Luigi asked, looking around the clearing.

"This is it…and here's the carving." Pikachu pointed to a tree, on which a small hedgehog had been carved.

"So this place means something, eh? But there's no Wario…" Crazy Hand signaled for Typhoon to return to his side and he commanded, "Typhoon, find!"

The dog barked and trotted off, but soon returned to the clearing and whined.

"Wario must have disappeared here…but how…" Crazy Hand looked around.

"I have no idea…no idea whatsoever…" Pikachu shrugged.

"Hmm…" Diddy Kong began searching the area, but there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

"I sense that same aura I felt before…that darkness was here…" Lucario looked around the clearing, "I think…that Wario may have escaped through a portal."

"A portal? But how? He can't summon portals…how did he manage to do that?" Luigi patted Typhoon, who had come to sit beside him.

"Better yet, how can we get to the same place Wario went to…Lucario?" Diddy Kong asked.

Lucario sighed, "Portals aren't exactly my area of expertise…but I know someone who can get us there."

"Who?"

"Of course; Mewtwo! Why didn't we think of that earlier?" Crazy Hand turned to Diddy Kong, "Mewtwo was here for the last tournament…he chose not to join this time around; he said it was too much hassle. He's the one who recommended Lucario. I'm sure he'll help us."

"So what will have to do?" Diddy Kong asked.

"We'll have to call Mewtwo and ask for him to come and help us. He still should have a pendant and be able to enter the portal here…it's just matter of reaching him."

"Alright…I'll run back to the Base and give him a call," Pikachu replied, turning around and dashing off into the forest.

XXXXXXXXX

"That was one of the worst experiences in my entire life!" Sonic whimpered once they were outside the hospital. Shadow and Sonic had gone in that morning to have Sonic examined…having somebody probe his rear end which had just recently been probed unwillingly was a terrifying experience. If Shadow hadn't been there holding his hand, Sonic would have had a heart attack.

"At least it's over and done with," Tails replied, motioning for the two hedgehogs to get into the plane. It was a silent ride home, although Shadow's mind was working overtime. Sonic was snuggling right up to the black hedgehog, and if they had been alone right then…

"_Damn it; I shouldn't be thinking these things. I can't even really remember how this happened…I think it's all Robotnik's fault – if he didn't think that I could possibly develop feelings for his granddaughter I would have never liked guys…and like Sonic. No, not like; love. Ever since we truly became friends I've began to lust for Sonic, and now I really love him. I've wanted to tell him before, but now I don't think I ever will. Sonic already is confused enough on what he wants, and just telling him another guy wants to make love to him will make him even more confused. I don't want to force him to love me. Even if a genie came up to me and said they could make Sonic love me, I would say no. If I can't win Sonic's heart by myself, then I don't deserve it. I wonder if he's ever guessed that I kissed him because I wanted to; I didn't have to do that to make him realize he needed therapy. I wish I could do it again, and more…well, I can't and I won't. For now, I'll have to stay satisfied with having him sleep beside me at night. Aw, he's cuddling even closer to me. He's so cute…" _

Shadow wrapped his arms around the blue hedgehog and nuzzled the top of his head, but didn't say a word.

Tails waited until they were back to ask, "What did the doctors say?"

Shadow replied for Sonic, "He has multiple hemorrhoids and fissures…so little bumps and cracks in his rear."

"Thanks for that, Shadow," Sonic muttered.

"Hey, Tails needs to know…anyways, the cream Sonic has apparently helps deal with these conditions, so luckily he doesn't have any infections. The doctors say everything should heal naturally by itself, but to continue using the cream."

"Well, that's good…no STD's or anything?" Tails asked.

"None. He'll be ok."

"Alright; ready to speak with your therapist, Sonic? Sonic…?" Tails waved his hand in front of Sonic's eyes, "Hello…?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Inside you go…Shadow and I need to grab some groceries. We'll be back in an hour or two," Tails gave a quick wave to Sonic and then hopped back in the plane, "Let's go, Shadow!"

Shadow hugged Sonic and then pushed him through the front door, "We love you, buddy! See you soon!" He jumped onto the wing, and with final wave they took off.

"Hey Tails…I thought we were good on food for the week!" Shadow called to the fox.

"There are a few things we still need, and we actually have a party to plan…Sonic's party. And yours, I must admit – your birthday is the nineteenth. You guys may simply end up sharing one party, if that's good enough for you."

"I forgot about our birthdays! And we can share the party. What do you think we should get him?"

"I don't know, but we should make it fun so he doesn't have to think about what happened…that reminds me; we need to pick up Knuckles and Amy after we're done here."

"Why?"

"We're taking Sonic on an excursion tomorrow to a theme park and they're getting tickets…are you in?"

"Sure! Who doesn't love racing at terrifying speeds through pitch blackness?" Shadow laughed.

At the grocery store, the two went around and picked out some more fresh food for the week, as well as discussing decorations and cake ideas. While walking past the toy aisle, Shadow stopped and poked Tails, "Hey, look!" He ran into the aisle and came back out with a stuffed animal, "It's Sassy!"

The stuffy was a sparkly pink and white, winged unicorn.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ah, here it is! Mewtwo's still hanging around outside Cerulean City, apparently…and here's his phone number." Pikachu still had his old friend's contact info, so all he had to do was call. He dialed the number and hoped Mewtwo would be there.

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"What? Oh, sorry, did I get the wrong number?"

"Are you looking for Mewtwo?"

"Yeah…"

"That's me! I'm just having fun…"

"Ok…hi, Mewtwo."

"Hi! So, do you need something? Wait; Pikachu, is that you?"

"It is! I'm calling from the Smasher's Base…we need your help."

"Help? Me? What do you need my help for?"

Pikachu quickly explained the situation, but once he was finished Mewtwo sighed, "Oh…I'm sorry mouse, but I can't help you now."

"Why not?"

"The Indigo Plateau is hosting a major tournament right now, and I'm the final challenge for each day…this has been planned for months, and I can't back out now."

"Oh…well, when will it be finished?"

"In three days…I hate to say it, but can you guys hold on for that long?"

"We'll have to, because we can't get to Wario without your help. But you'll come, won't you?"

"Of course I will! I'll try and speed things up a little; tomorrow will mainly be a festival, so maybe I can ask for them to push it back…"

"Try, Mewtwo. And come as soon as you can!"

"You've got it, mouse. I'll back my bags straight away! And don't worry about the pendant; I've got mine."

"Thanks. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Pikachu. I can't wait to see you again!"

The psychic Pokémon hung up, and immediately after a small electric mouse jumped onto his shoulder, "Oh goodie! Can I come? I'm so glad that you're happy now! You used to be mean! Sorry, I'm rambling…can I come?"

"I don't see why not, Pichu," Mewtwo replied, patting the Pokémon's head, "Maybe we can get another old friend to join us as well…call Roy and see if he can make it. Right now I've got a battle to win!"

_**Any ideas on why I didn't describe Sonic's second dream here? It's coming next chapter, to say the least…and it's going to be interesting…what the heck; I'll spoil it now. If you don't like Sonadow sex, you have just been warned. **_


	28. Sunlight and Shadows

_**You can skip Sonic's dream if you choose. Just scroll down until the italic letters finish, and then keep going. You don't need to read it to understand the rest of the chapter.**_

Sonic woke up in the middle of the night; not from a nightmare this time, but another dream. Because he wasn't scared, Shadow didn't seem to sense anything and did not awaken…Sonic sighed and flipped his pillow over to get to the cold side. He rolled over, facing away from Shadow, and slowly closed his eyes. The dream started up again…

XXXXXXXXX

"_I don't know what to do, Shadow. I feel like I still should be having sex every night…but…" Sonic sighed and leaned on Shadow's shoulder. He was so messed up; something obviously was wrong with him if he felt like Wario should still be raping him…_

"_Sonic, it's your body. You should give it to whoever you want to, not give it because someone else wants it." Shadow moved his chin up and nibbled on Sonic's right ear. They were sitting on the end of Sonic's bed side by side; the only ones in the house. Chills went down Sonic's spine…was that from pleasure, or fear?_

"_Do…do you want it?" Sonic whispered softly. What a stupid question; he didn't really know what Shadow's preferences were. _

"_Yes," Shadow whispered back, which surprised Sonic, "But I'm not going to take you because I want you. You have to want me as well…I don't care if someone would offer me billions to have sex with you; if you didn't want it, I'd refuse."_

"_I…I don't know what I want. At first, I thought I liked girls; everyone is raised to like the opposite gender…but now, I'm not sure. How could I find out?"_

"_Mm…" Shadow pondered, moving again so he was facing Sonic, "We can test that without going too deep…" He cupped Sonic's chin in his hand and made Sonic look at him. The black hedgehog leaned closer and lightly kissed Sonic's lips. He moved back and asked, "How did that feel?"_

"_I don't know…good and yet…weird…" Sonic shrugged._

"_Want to do a little more?" Sonic nodded, so Shadow moved close again. This time their lips were locked for a good two minutes. Once Shadow pulled back, Sonic shook his head back and forth._

"_Same as before…maybe we should go a little deeper?" Sonic said. Shadow smiled, and he wrapped his arms around Sonic's waist to pull the blue hedgehog right into his lap. Shadow was now sitting like he was on a chair, while Sonic had been pulled right to Shadow's chest so their bodies were fully touching. Shadow kissed Sonic again, and he pushed his tongue inside Sonic's mouth. Sonic relented and allowed Shadow to explore his mouth, and to his surprise, he enjoyed it. He kissed Shadow back; sucking on Shadow's tongue to let the black hedgehog know he liked this._

_Once they broke off the kiss, Sonic snuggled closer into Shadow's soft chest, "I liked that, Shadow. I want more…a lot more…"_

"_Are you sure, Sonic? Are you really, really sure? After what's happened to you…" Shadow kissed the top of the blue hedgehog's head, "I'm not sure if we should…"_

"_No! Don't speak of that! I don't want to think of sex as something bad…I want to associate sex with something other than rape. Won't you let me do so?"_

"_But it's your body. Don't give it away to me, just like that…"_

"_Shadow, please…I've never felt what's it's like to have sex for pleasure, and I've had sex nearly twenty times…I…you've done so much for me Shadow; I think that over time I kind of, well…I love you, Shadow."_

_Shadow chuckled softly and he lay down fully on the bed, pulling Sonic on top him, "That changes something…I love you too, Sonic." He started off kissing Sonic again, and Sonic pulled himself closer to Shadow, leaving both hands on Shadow's cheeks. Shadow had one hand on the small of Sonic's back and the other on the back of the blue hedgehog's head. Shadow drummed his fingers on Sonic's back, and slowly moved them down…he stopped right above Sonic's tail, broke off the kiss and whispered, "Tell me if you want me to stop, ok? I don't want to do anything that you're not comfortable with. Promise me you'll speak up if you're nervous. Promise me!"_

"_Of course, Shadow…I will."_

_Shadow kissed Sonic's cheek before moving back to his lips. "Let's start this off slow, shall we?" he whispered before starting to kiss the blue hedgehog on top again. Shadow now moved his hand past Sonic's tail and onto his rear. If Sonic flinched from this, he'd stop everything immediately. _

_Sonic didn't even seem to notice and kept kissing Shadow. Shadow patted Sonic lightly on his rear. No reaction, so he gave the blue hedgehog a light slap; not strong enough to hurt, but strong enough so Sonic had to have noticed it. Sonic moaned a little; probably from the kissing more than anything else. Shadow felt the urge to actually strike Sonic, just to see if Sonic would be frightened. There was no way he'd do anything sexual with the blue hedgehog if he was scared to even be spanked. Shadow sighed inwardly, knowing he could never go any further without testing this, so he lifted up his hand and brought it down hard on Sonic's rear._

_Sonic let out a small yip and broke the kiss off. He pushed himself off of Shadow slightly, with his hands on either side of Shadow's face, "What the heck was that for, Shadow? That hurt!"_

"_I'm afraid of how you're going to react to even simple touches Sonic…I can't go any further worrying about how this is going to go…"_

"_I promised you I would say something if I was uncomfortable, and right now I'm just fine. Besides; all heroes have had their butts pinched and slapped by fans…it's something you get used to after awhile…"_

_Shadow laughed softly and kissed Sonic again. Shadow never thought he'd ever be kissing his old rival…even though he had wanted to for some time. Shadow rolled over so he was on top, forcing Sonic to remove his hands so he could move as well. The black hedgehog was already quite aroused from this, and the blue one had barely touched him…he grinded against Sonic's hips and both hedgehogs shuddered at the pleasure running through their bodies._

"_Mm…more, Shadow…" Shadow responded to Sonic's command and pushed harder. Sonic moaned and lifted one of his legs up slightly, pushing the knee lightly into Shadow's crotch. Just seeing Sonic happy like this was enough to make Shadow feel good, but with the touching…Shadow was growing quite hard._

_Sonic was slowly getting aroused, although he wasn't close to where Shadow was at. Sensing this, Shadow stopped kissing Sonic's lips and instead moved down his body. Shadow kissed Sonic's cheek and moved down to his neck. He bit Sonic lightly and then licked the wound, and he kissed Sonic's neck a few more times. Sonic moaned softly, "Shadow…go on…"_

_Shadow kissed Sonic's collarbone, and then moved on to his chest…this time he stayed longer, teasing a nipple he found through Sonic's peach fur. He nibbled it slightly, releasing another moan from the blue hedgehog. With one hand he searched through Sonic's fur to find the other nipple, and once he did so he swapped sides. Sonic sighed in pleasure and kissed Shadow's forehead. _

_Shadow was already hard and ready to enter Sonic, but he wasn't going to do so just yet…there were too many things to do before that. Shadow bit Sonic's nipple harder, then moved on to bite the center of his chest, then the hard muscles of his stomach, and further down. Once he reached the blue hedgehog's crotch, he began licking and kissing the fur, wanting Sonic to expose himself to his black lover._

_Sonic couldn't believe the pleasure that was running through his veins. Nobody had ever treated him this way, and it felt so good. Sonic no longer cared about what had happened before and if he really wanted this – scratch that, he did want this – he just simply focused on Shadow's caresses and let himself bask in the pleasure._

_Shadow grinned to himself when he finally managed to have Sonic fully aroused. Time to take this one step further…Shadow licked the tip of Sonic's erection, and then quickly glanced up to see how Sonic would react. Sonic seemed to be doing just fine, so he took just an inch into his mouth and began to suck._

_The sapphire hedgehog gasped when Shadow began to pleasure him with his mouth. Sonic was always on the bottom; this had never happened before…and did he ever like it. Sonic unknowingly grasped the sides of Shadow's head, trying to make the ebony hedgehog take more on. Shadow would have smiled if his mouth wasn't full, but he complied with Sonic's demands. He lifted Sonic's hips up slightly and soon had the entire thing in his mouth, and was going faster at every moment. Sonic's moans and words also sped up as the pleasure built up inside the sapphire hedgehog. _

"_Oh, Shadow…more, please…faster Shadow…ah…oh gods Shadow don't stop! Faster Shadow…I'm so close…ahh…Shadow!" His hips thrust up, trying to get deeper into Shadow's mouth, although that was impossible. Shadow nibbled Sonic's erection and swirled his tongue around the organ, and finally Sonic could contain himself no longer. Shadow nearly gagged at the fluids that suddenly invaded his mouth, but he let Sonic empty himself inside before removing the blue hedgehog. Shadow licked his lips and swallowed, and then grinned at the panting sapphire hedgehog underneath him._

"_So how was that?" Shadow whispered, giving Sonic a quick peck on the lips._

"_So…good…mm…" Sonic closed his eyes and sighed. _

"_Are you good for now, then?" Shadow wanted nothing more at that moment to push himself inside his blue lover – Sonic's legs were spread apart right now and Shadow had a good shot at his entrance – but if Sonic wasn't ready to go any further than what they had just done, he'd wait for another time. He was even ok if Sonic didn't want to return the favor – just seeing Sonic so happy was good enough._

"_No…I want more, Shadow. Besides…isn't it my turn to take you on?" Sonic's eyes fluttered open, and he looked at Shadow's erection._

"_Not if you don't want to, Sonic. If you'd rather wait before taking a turn for oral, I'm cool with that." _

"_That's not fair to you, Shadow. After what you've done for me…"_

"_Hey, don't feel pressured. If you're happy, I'm happy. Besides, if you like this now, we'll have a chance to try later…" Shadow laughed softly and passionately kissed Sonic again._

"_Well…ok…I'd rather wait, because, you know…" Sonic sighed._

"_Fine by me! But…do you want to go all the way?" Shadow asked._

"_Yes," Sonic whispered, "I don't want those old remains inside of me…I want something new in there. Come on; I want a chance to start this all over…please, Shadow…"_

_Shadow closed his eyes for a few moments, and then he opened them, leaned forward and kissed Sonic again, "If that is what you wish, Sonic…I promise you'll I'll be careful and will stop if it hurts you too much."_

"_Ok…I'm ready whenever you are," Sonic whispered softly, spreading his legs apart a little more._

"_Hmm…" Shadow looked between Sonic's legs, and then ducked his head inside. Sonic squeaked when he felt something wet prodding his entrance._

"_Shadow, what are you doing?" Sonic gasped; this felt so weird. _

_Shadow looked up slightly at Sonic and replied, "We don't have any lubricant, Sonic…I'm just trying to make this easier for you." He went back down and stuck his tongue through Sonic's entrance, which sparked another moan from Sonic._

_Once Shadow was satisfied that Sonic's entrance was ready, he pulled back out and coated his own erection with saliva. A little gross, but they didn't have anything else, so it'd have to do. Shadow moved inside Sonic's spread legs and placed his erection right in front of Sonic's entrance. He then moved his upper body forward so he was now overtop of Sonic completely, with hands on either side of Sonic's head. He leaned forward and kissed his blue lover one last time before saying, "Are you ready, Sonic?"_

"_Ready," Sonic replied, placing his hands on Shadow's back. _

_Shadow took a deep breath and slowly moved his hips forward, penetrating Sonic's tight entrance. Sonic let out another squeak and gripped two of Shadow's back quills hard; he was panting, and his muscles were tightening up._

_The black hedgehog gasped when Sonic's entrance became ever tighter; he already could barely move inside Sonic, and having him tighten up made it nearly impossible to move forward or backward. Shadow decided this would be a good time to let Sonic adjust, so he stopped moving and waited. He kissed Sonic's cheek a couple of times and whispered, "Sh…it's ok, Sonic. Take all the time you need…"_

_Sonic nodded, and he tried to force himself to relax. At least Shadow's kisses helped to reassure the sapphire hedgehog that Shadow really did love him, making it easier to calm down. Once Sonic was ready, Shadow moved again until he got to the point where Sonic tightened up too much, and then he stopped and waited for Sonic to adjust. After that, Shadow was able to get fully inside. Now he held perfectly still and waited for Sonic's body to adjust entirely._

_The blue hedgehog could feel every part of Shadow's erection inside of him, but it felt different than before…it felt good because Sonic wanted it there. After a couple of anxious minutes, Shadow pulled slightly out and then thrust inside the hedgehog underneath him._

_Sonic moaned at the first thrust, and his moans became louder when Shadow continued. At first, Shadow kept his thrusts small and slow, but soon enough he was nearly pulling out and then slamming in hard. His thrusts were faster, as well as the speed that the pleasure was building up inside both hedgehogs. _

"_You doing ok, Sonic?" Shadow asked in a few breathless gasps; even he was becoming too aroused to think clearly._

"_Mm…yeah…more…faster…ahhh…more…ahhh…" Sonic couldn't even complete a sentence anymore. He already had his erection back because of Shadow's attention. He just wanted Shadow; it felt so good…and then even better when Shadow hit that point inside of him._

_Sonic moaned loudly when Shadow hit his prostate, and Shadow smiled knowingly. He found that spot inside the blue hedgehog and began to pound into it, no longer holding back. Sonic was ready to take this on, so he was going to do it._

"_AH! Shadow! Ah…more, Shadow; go faster, please!…ah…Shadow!…I love you, Shadow…" Sonic cried; his mind clouded by pleasure._

_Shadow was quickly reaching his peak, and he leaned down and whispered, "I love you, Sonic." With one final thrust Shadow released inside his blue lover. The feeling of Shadow's release was enough to finish Sonic, and he came for the second time, with his semen splattering all of Shadow's chest and stomach. _

_Shadow pulled out of Sonic and rolled over to the left of the blue hedgehog. Shadow pulled Sonic close to him and nuzzled the blue hedgehog's head, "So how was that, Sonic?"_

"_Amazing, Shadow…absolutely amazing…" Sonic sighed and let himself be cuddled by his ebony lover. _

"_It's too bad I wasn't the one who took your virginity…I bet you'd feel better about yourself if this had been your first time," Shadow sighed._

"_What are you talking about, Shadow? As far as I'm concerned, I've never had sex before and just lost my virginity to you." Shadow smiled at the response and tilted Sonic's chin up so he could kiss his sapphire lover._

"_I love you, Shadow," Sonic whispered, closing his eyes and snuggling closer to the black hedgehog._

"_Same here, Sonic." Shadow replied. He closed his eyes as well, and within a few minutes the two hedgehogs were sound asleep, with Shadow's arms wrapped around Sonic._

XXXXXXXXX

"So…I didn't tell you about all the details, but…" Sonic's head went down in embarrassment. There was no way he'd ever really describe that dream to anyone! It was way too awkward…

"Hmm…that's interesting. I can see two possible reasons for you having this dream…" Dr. Nam tapped his pen on the pad of paper.

"Say them. I'd like to hear."

"Well, here's the more complicated idea…currently, your only experience with sex wasn't pleasant. So it's possible that in your heart you want to actually have a loving relationship in which your partner is willing to listen to your feelings and have sex with you so both of you are happy; unlike before where Wario was only caring about himself. Because you've only had sex with a man and Shadow was close by, your mind put the two together and so Shadow was the one who loved you in the dream."

"Oh…what's the other one?"

"The other theory I have is that you're in love with Shadow and had an erotic dream about him. What else is there to say?"

"You're kidding me…" Sonic covered his face with his hands, "I don't know how I should feel anymore, and so it's possible that I am in love with him…I can't sort out my emotions!"

"So, you think you have a crush on Shadow?" Dr. Nam asked, leaning backward against the couch.

"Well, I don't know…I mean, I never thought I liked guys before…I'm so damn confused!" Sonic slumped down in his seat and let his hands fall to his sides. He wouldn't have told anyone about the dream if he didn't have so many problems; right now he needed to have this sorted out.

"What do you think I should do? I don't know if Shadow is into me, or anyone, really…do you think everybody would hate me if they knew I was…"

"They wouldn't be your friends if they hated you just because of who you loved."

"I know, but…" Sonic shook his head back and forth, "I don't want to lose them because of this…"

"They seem open about everything; I'm sure if you come right out and say that you have these feelings they'd stand by you. I told them that you may be confused about your sexual orientation, and they were fine with it."

"But you didn't tell them I could actually be this way!"

"You know Sonic; you never thought of the option that you could like both men and women, did you? That's a possibility as well."

"I did before, but not lately. Great; so now's there's a fourth option…"

"A fourth one?"

"Yeah…either I'm straight, gay, bi, or just fucked up."

Dr. Nam sighed, "You're not screwed up, Sonic. You don't choose to feel this way."

"Is that psychiatric bullshit or do you really mean that?"

"What?" Dr. Nam looked confused.

"I'm asking if you think it's ok that I'm possibly gay."

"Of course it's fine! It's not like you're interested in young children or something like that. Why are you asking me?"

"You never put your real opinions out there, Doc. Far as I know you could actually be thinking that I'm a freak, but since you're getting paid you don't care."

"I'm not supposed to state my personal opinions, Sonic. I can't tell you who to love or if you should tell everyone how you feel. I'm just here to guide you. You can either follow my advice or think it's a bunch of crap and forget about it."

"But aren't you supposed to tell people what to do?"

Dr. Nam sighed and leaned forward, "Look Sonic, the point is that one thing is certain; you're focusing way too much on trying to figure out how you feel. Let it lie. If you truly feel one way or another, that will show in time. It's too early to jump to conclusions."

"For crying out loud; I've had the dream more than once! If that doesn't say something…"

"Sexually abused children can end up questioning their sexual orientation; it's not extremely common, but it can happen. This could just be a phase you're going through; it's all towards your recovery."

"But I'm not a child, and this doesn't make sense! How could I…ugh…" Sonic covered his face with his hands again.

Dr. Nam stood up and went over to Sonic. He kneeled down and took the blue hedgehog's hands in his own, "I know you're not really a child, but you were a kid…just an innocent young teen who didn't deserve to have this happen."

"Then why did it happen, Nam? You haven't given me a reason. Why?"

Dr. Nam was quiet for a moment, but then he said, "I can't answer that right now, but I think I'll be able to get you the answer. Just hold on, ok?" Sonic nodded. "Good…now, I believe your friends are taking you somewhere today. Do you remember what we discussed?"

"Yes." Sonic took a deep breath, "I'm not worthless. There's more to me than just my body. I'm not a sex toy and cannot be simply used for sex. Nobody sees me as just a sex object. I have the right to my body and I can choose who I want to have sex with because I deserve that choice."

"There you go!" Dr. Nam smiled, "But, do you believe any of it, or are you just reciting?"

"I…I agree with most of it…but…I do feel like I'm seen as a sex toy…"

"There isn't a neon sign on your forehead saying, 'I've had sex'. Only seven people in total know the truth and only one sees you that way; and that's Wario. You have nothing to worry about. Now, get going. Have fun today, Sonic!"

Once the blue hedgehog left the room, Dr. Nam sighed, "I hope you have fun, because after what you've been through and have to live with now, you certainly need something to smile about."

XXXXXXXXX

"Mewtwo should be coming this evening…he got the festival knocked back and everything. He said it was an emergency…and threatening the leader of the tournament sure helped a lot." Pikachu took a deep breath after saying all of that. He just received the call that morning and had sprinted down three stories to the dining room in order to tell everyone.

"That's Mewtwo for you," Lucario laughed, "When he wants something, he's going to get it. He sure is happier now, but some things just never change…"

"There's more…Pichu and Roy are coming along too. They want to help."

"Roy's coming? I haven't seen him in a long time! They should hang out and Brawl with us for a while…" Marth flashed a look at Master Hand, as well as many other veteran fighters.

"Yeah, yeah, I take the hint! I'll go get some guest rooms set up…" Master Hand floated out of the room.

"Look everyone! A kitty!" Crazy Hand came in soon after Master Hand left, holding a scrawny gray tabby, "What should his name be?"

"Another one?" multiple Brawlers asked. Crazy gave them a thumbs-up.

"Maybe Tabby?" said Jigglypuff.

"But it's a boy…so Silver?" Lucas replied.

"Be creative here!" Crazy Hand said, putting the cat down. In a half a second the cat zoomed off and ducked under one of the dining room tables.

"'Speedy' certainly seems appropriate," Captain Falcon said while checking under his table.

"Uh oh…quick, somebody grab him!" Crazy Hand began looking around the room for the cat. Everyone else joined in, but the feline was nowhere to be found.

"How could that cat disappear so easily?" King Dedede said when he returned from checking out the kitchen.

"Oh great…poor little kitty…" Crazy Hand sighed.

Suddenly the cat appeared from behind a door and raced across the room. It happened so fast that nobody had time to snatch him before the kitty disappeared again.

"Man, where's Sonic when you need him…" Bowser sighed.

A loud hiss echoed throughout the room, and Wolf called, "Found the cat! And he isn't happy…" Scratching sounds soon followed.

"What's going on?" Fox asked, coming closer and kneeling beside Wolf.

"The cat's in the wall!" Sure enough, there was a small hole in the wall under one of the buffet tables, big enough for a kitty to squeeze through. And now the feline had decided to take a tour of the building without being seen.

"It looks like we'll soon have a ceiling cat on our hands…" Crazy Hand sighed and went to go get some cat food to lure the kitty out.

XXXXXXXXX

"Well, here we are, Sonic," Amy said, untying his blindfold. Right after his therapy session the morning, Sonic was dragged out of the house, blindfolded, stuck into the plane and then flown somewhere. Why they had to blindfold him to take him somewhere, Sonic just couldn't understand…

"Ta da! What do you think?" Sonic blinked from the sunlight hitting his now-exposed eyes, and then a huge smile lit up his face. Not twenty feet away from him stood the entrance to one of the most awesome theme parks in the entire universe; Phantasian Land.

"Wow," Sonic breathed, "We're staying here for the rest of the day?"

"You bet!" Knuckles smiled and placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder, "Maybe even all night as well! It's their annual twenty-four hour party, and I've heard they've got some great fireworks…"

"Sweet! Let's go!" Sonic raced to the entrance, and his four friends followed laughing.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ok, we've concluded that Wario isn't anywhere in the Smasher's World. We've concluded that he isn't in his home world. So where the hell has he gone?" Master Hand was floating back and forth in front of the Brawlers, all who were equally confused. Crazy Hand made them swear not to tell his brother about the cat, so they were speaking in the auditorium while Crazy tried to nab the cat in the dining room.

"Where the hell does he have to go? That's my question." All eyes turned to Samus, "Seriously; he has to have gone somewhere that he is familiar with! I think we should all put our heads together and think. Was he acting unusual lately? Speaking with anyone suspicious? Come on now; think people, think!"

"Well…he seemed to have gotten stronger lately. Everyone notice how much tougher he was to beat?" Lucas remarked. The others agreed.

"He seemed more withdrawn and quiet…he really wasn't interested in anything we did," King Dedede put in. More nods.

Bowser then said something that shocked them all, "You know, the day Sonic left, Wario asked me some very strange questions; he asked me why I was upset and what day it was. It was like he had completely forgotten what had happened before, and I'm a hundred percent sure he wasn't joking!" Now that stumped everybody.

"What? But he said goodbye and everything to Sonic, and he seemed concerned at the time…how'd he suddenly forget everything?" Zelda placed her hand on her cheek, thinking.

"This mystery gets more confusing by the moment…I wonder where Wario is now?" Master Hand asked, but was met with complete silence.

XXXXXXXXX

Wario was wandering Subspace again, bored out of his skull. There was absolutely nothing to do here except wander and stare at random Subspace monsters. True to his word, Tabuu made sure Wario was comfortable and didn't touch him…but they were still working on a way to be able to send him home. Eventually Mephiles had snatched some of Wario's clothes from the Base, so at least he wasn't wandering around in pajamas anymore. But it was strange how Mephiles wasn't caught…

He had only spoken once more with Tabuu; Wario had asked, "How did it come to this; first you simply want revenge and then you want sex? What happened?"

Tabuu just laughed and replied, "Raping Sonic was my revenge on him, fool. I wanted him to suffer, and he did suffer; just not in the way I originally planned. He has paid for making me lose Shania…"

"From what I've heard, she was a nice girl…don't you think that Shania wouldn't have wanted you to do that?"

The conversation ended after that, with Wario getting a black eye.

Wario wasn't sure whether or not he wished to be found out and arrested or if he'd rather stay in Subspace forever. Neither was a great option, but he did want to apologize to Sonic…Sonic probably wouldn't accept it, but at least it would make Wario feel better. He was still shocked about he had done to the poor hedgehog, and he couldn't help but think about the heartache he had caused the speedster.

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh man, I think I'm going to be sick…" Tails was walking like a drunk; actually, they all were. Anybody would after going on a roller coaster that did corkscrews in the dark at top speed…one good thing about being a hero; regardless of how tall you were the park attendants always let you on rides.

"Ugh…let's sit down," Sonic laughed, his legs shaking. They all sat down on a park bench; it was a tight squeeze with five on it. Nobody was really feeling terrible, but it was an awkward feeling.

"That was so much fun…I swear I thought I was going to fall out on one of those loops," Knuckles laughed, "And I usually hate rollercoasters!"

"What should we go on next? That 'Starship 5000' ride looked pretty sweet…" Shadow said, laughing softly.

"Please, not another fast ride straight away…what about the tilt-a-whirl? That seemed pretty soft…" Amy sighed.

"It's still fast!"

"Yeah, but not that fast!"

"Sounds good to me," Sonic put in, "It's almost lunchtime anyways, and I'm looking forward to eating about a million calories worth of deep-fried junk food here!"

"Yeah; they have fried everything! Who comes up with this stuff?" Tails asked.

"Mm…deep-fried tarantula…fantastic!" Knuckles said jokingly. Everyone groaned a little, but then stood up and went on to the next attraction.

XXXXXXXXX

After hours of discussion, nobody could come up with a logical conclusion. Trying to put all of the pieces together of the past month was basically impossible. It was like having six different jigsaw puzzles and then trying to make one picture out of them. Soon the conversation went off course because of somebody asking why they are called, 'jigsaw' puzzles, and that eventually somehow led to what eyeballs taste like.

"Ok, I think eyeballs are like pure jelly or something…that would make the most sense," Mario said.

"Nah; I think there is a bit of crunchiness in eyeballs…they are kind of firm," Red argued.

"I say eyeballs are basically jell, but have a slightly harder center in the middle. You know what I mean?" Kirby asked.

Everyone eventually agreed with Kirby's statement, and then went on to flavors. They decided green was lime, blue was berry, purple was grape, brown was cinnamon, hazel was like cookies, black was licorice, red was cherry, and orange was the 'mystery flavor', simply because orange is always orange and they wanted it to be different.

"Wow," Ness said after they had talked for some time, "We really went off track." The group had been speaking about stupid crap for hours.

"Well, we certainly accomplished something…like learning my eyes taste like berries," Pit shrugged. Everyone laughed.

"I learned to bury your enemies in walls," Falco put in, speaking of a short story someone told. More laughter.

"I now know never trust the mailman because they may be your rival in disguise and are planning to kill you," Peach added. Even more laughter.

"I discovered that many people get the urge to steal in the spring…I wonder why?" Donkey Kong asked.

"I guess you need to steal the wine to get the guy drunk while disguised as a mailperson so you can bury them in a wall?" Roy replied. Everyone turned to the doorway and either smiled in surprise or confusion on seeing three ex-Smashers standing there.

"Mewtwo! Pichu! Roy! You guys came back!" Soon everyone was gathered around them, and it was like a small reunion. Or in many cases, it was an introduction.

"Well, since I was coming back, I decided to bring a few friends along…hope you don't mind," Mewtwo smiled and gave Lucario a hug, something he never used to do, "Long time no see, pal."

"The more the merrier! Are you ready to go?" Lucario asked.

Mewtwo nodded, "Lead the way!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Wow; this is so fattening, yet so delicious…" Knuckles took another bite of his burger.

"Yeah, I love the fries…those ones that are so soaked with grease that they're soggy…" Tails dipped another one in ketchup and ate it.

"You can just taste the unhealthiness…" Sonic smiled and grabbed another handful of popcorn.

"No more fast rides for some time…otherwise we'll all be sick!" Amy laughed.

"Yeah…we should go on a random children's ride…there's a funhouse back near the bumper cars. Should we go on that?" Shadow asked.

"Sounds like fun!" Tails replied, and the others agreed. After dinner they walked back to the other side of the park and lined up for the funhouse.

"Have fun, guys," the attendant said while he scanned their bracelets. Soon the five of them were in a cheesy little funhouse with a bunch of entertaining attractions. It seemed harmless enough, until they got near the end…

Now, it was already getting late; the young children had gone home, and mostly teens and young adults were hanging around the park. The funhouse was open to everyone, and there were some people near the back that were just hanging around, not realizing what they were doing, because they were drunk.

The five friends had not gotten to that point quite yet, and still were moving through the house. At the moment they were walking through a hallway with rotated like a top; it was really easy not to fall over, but fun if you tried walking as close to the edge as possible and never managing to stay up. Laughing, they went on to the next part; a set of what looked like iron bars, except the two in the middle were made of rubber. They pulled them apart and went through. After that were a whole bunch of mirrors that distorted your figure, and they went through laughing at themselves; drunk off of happiness and excitement.

"This has been one of the best days ever!" Sonic laughed, pointing at himself in one of the mirrors. His arms were suddenly as long as his body!

"I'm glad you're enjoying it!" Tails replied, giggling at his reflection. He was suddenly really short; he looked about a foot tall!

Finally they made it to the end; it was now a simple slide down to a mattress and then off to the next attraction. But the exit was at the back where no attendants were stationed, so those drunks were hanging around and making rude comments at passerby.

They were making fun of a couple that just walked by, and didn't notice Tails and Amy slide down right behind them. However, they did notice the blue hedgehog that came down afterwards…

"Hey sexy. Aren't you a hot one…" Sonic didn't realize that the guy was talking to him, but he did notice when he felt someone squeeze his rear.

Sonic squeaked but froze in place; he was too scared even to move.

"Aw, he likes it...what a cutie…" The man tried to put another hand on Sonic, put was unable to before Tails ran back and punched the guy in a very delicate spot…the man groaned and buckled over; his friends just laughed. Amy grabbed Sonic's hand and pulled him away from the group, just as Knuckles and Shadow came down the slide.

The five of them moved together and simply decided to walk away, for Sonic's sake. In his mind Sonic was reciting, _"I'm not worthless…I'm not a sex object…I have a right to my body…" _For a while, it worked and Sonic was convincing himself that what he was saying was right. But then the other group started making more sexual comments about the blue hedgehog;

"Look at that tight little blue ass!

"Who wouldn't want to ride that?"

"Damn! He looks so hot he must be a slut! There's no way he can be a virgin! How much do you think it costs?"

"Hey hedgehog, I'll give you fifty bucks if you suck me off!"

"Forget about him – I'll give you a hundred if I can give you a good humping!"

"Nah – we'll give you a thousand if we can all fuck you at once! Three in your mouth and two up your ass!"

They all started to laugh while Sonic looked down in shame, _"Dr. Nam's wrong…I am only good for sex. I don't deserve anything I have. I'm a filthy hedgehog slut who was never a hero and should go around selling off my body like I was always supposed to…"_

Knuckles couldn't contain his anger any longer; he turned around and cursed at them, "You fucking perverts! If you say one more fucking word about us again I'm going to kick your fucking asses!" Knuckles' purple eyes flashed furiously, and he certainly seemed threatening enough to make the group slink away.

"I'm glad that's over!" Amy crossed her arms and huffed, "Hey, what do you want to do next?"

"I want to go home," Sonic whispered. Everyone turned around to look at him.

"But I thought you were having fun!" Tails replied.

"I was…but not anymore," Sonic sighed; his eyes were filling with tears again.

"Hey buddy…what's wrong?" Shadow asked, hugging Sonic close to him. Just a few months ago he would have never been this happy and cheerful, but…things had changed. Now he was open to giving hugs, and did Sonic ever need extras.

"Is it because of me, Sonic? Are you mad that I stepped in instead of letting you handle it on your own?" Knuckles asked.

"No; I thank you for doing that. It's just that everybody thinks of me as a sex object and nothing more. I really am worthless." Sonic's ears flattened, and a few tears ran down his cheeks.

"Bull! You're pretty, but you're much more than a sex toy. Besides, those guys were as drunk as hell. Don't listen to them," Tails snapped, crossing his arms.

"But why did they make those comments about me and nobody else?" Sonic sobbed.

"Because they noticed you first…seriously; they were talking shit. It could have happened to any one of us. It's just coincidental," Shadow replied.

"Sure…then how did they know I wasn't a virgin?" Sonic obviously didn't believe a word they were saying. He just hadn't had enough therapy yet in order to change his mindset.

Amy was thinking quickly while looking at the park map. Sonic had been so happy all day; his fun couldn't be ruined now. _"Think girl, think!"_ "You know, there is a face painting kiosk nearby. Why don't we get our faces painted?"

"I'm cool with that. You two?" Tails asked Knuckles and Shadow, who both nodded, "What about you, Sonic?"

"Sure…" Sonic sighed and followed the others; his mood was taking a downwards spiral. They had to cheer him up quickly if he was going to remain happy…

One by one, they each had something drawn on their faces. Amy had butterfly wings painted around her eyes. Knuckles had a pirate drawn on one cheek and skull and crossbones on the other. Tails had his entire face covered with tiger stripes.

Sonic was the last one to go in, and when Shadow came up to him to say it was his turn the blue hedgehog looked up and started to laugh. Shadow asked for a pink and white winged unicorn to be drawn on his forehead, and underneath it said, 'Sassy'. His right cheek had an evil banana on it, captioned as saying, 'I'm a lethal banana' and his left had a bleeding heart being eaten by a stickman. It made no sense whatsoever, and Sonic couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm cool and you know it! Your turn, pal." Shadow playfully shoved Sonic to the next available painter. Sonic ended up asking for Pikachu to be drawn on his right cheek and Jigglypuff to be drawn on the other. If those Brawlers were with him right now, they would have felt so special.

"Well, that was fun," Tails said, smiling. In the growing twilight his face really did start to look like a tiger.

"Yeah…say, what about we go on the 'Fireball'? That ride looks awesome!" Shadow suggested.

One by one they all agreed, even Sonic. There was a small lineup for the ride, but nobody minded. They started talking about random stuff while waiting and Sonic smiled. In moments like these, Sonic felt like he could finally leave the past behind him…

XXXXXXXXX

"Hmm…" Mewtwo pondered while floating around the clearing, "Hmm…"

"So what do you think?" Master Hand asked.

"Lucario's assumption is correct; a portal was definitely opened here. However, the trace is so faint I'm not sure how well I can track it now."

"Oh, damn it! Now we'll never get to Wario!" Kirby pouted.

"Don't worry Kirbs; where there's a will, there's a way. I can almost sense the person who summoned the portal…hmm…if I just had a picture of who opened the portal, or something special to that person, I know for certain I could open one for all of us to pass through. Otherwise, however, I don't think I can."

"But you don't know who opened it…how will you know when you have the right object?" Roy asked.

"Believe me, I'll know."

Everybody was quiet for a few moments, and then Meta Knight said, "Sonic." Everyone looked at him, and then the star warrior explained, "That figure said Sonic had something with him that showed who did it…Sonic must have something that will allow Mewtwo to open the portal."

Master Hand replied, "You must be right, Meta. But you guys can't go to him now; it's almost midnight their time. Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit, Link and Pikachu – tomorrow morning get to the main portals and go find Sonic. We'll need the entire group here to bring Wario to justice."

It was such a beautiful night. The five friends were parked at the top of the Ferris wheel, watching the fireworks in the sky.

"Oh…it's beautiful!" Amy whispered, watching a purple and blue explosion.

"Nobody can argue with that," Tails replied, watching a brilliant green star appear.

"I'm so glad we came here…it's wonderful," Sonic sighed and leaned back in his seat.

For a long time they sat in silence, watching the fireworks light up the night sky. Once the show was over, they were let down from the Ferris wheel and continued on to another ride; 'The Mindbender', the biggest roller coaster in the park. It was all outdoors, so they could still watch the stars.

While the five of them crammed into one cart and waited for the others to be filled, Sonic looked at Tails and Amy on his right, and Shadow and Knuckles on his left and said, "Thanks."

"Thanks for what?" Knuckles asked.

"For taking me here…for everything you've all done for me…" Sonic sighed and leaned against Shadow's shoulder, "For believing in me."

"Aw, it's nothing. You've earned it a million times over," Amy replied, reaching across Tails to squeeze his hand.

"Still…I could have never made it without all of you. You're the best friends ever!"

"You're so cute," Shadow said, cuddling Sonic close to him, "Making us feel special like that!"

"But it's true!" Everyone burst out laughing.

"You know how it works…being strong is important, but knowing who you can count on is equally important," Tails replied, also giving Sonic a hug.

"Yeah…you're right, Tails. Funny how I don't seem to get that all of the time…"

"Our wonderful emotional moment needs to be interrupted…here we go!" Knuckles pulled down the safety bar and the ride started up.

At the end of the roller coaster, they went back to the entrance to pick up the picture. During the ride a camera took a photo of each cart, and you could buy the snapshot. Because they had been in the front cart, they had a very good picture. It was clear, focused and showed the stars in the sky…but the best part about it was that all five occupants were smiling.

_**Well I've never written a lemon before, but I don't think I did too badly right then. I've always wanted to try…I think I just about doubled this chapter's length by putting it in.**_

_**Reviews are always welcome (and highly appreciated)!**_


	29. Because of You

_**I'm sorry but I'm stupidly far behind in my writing. I seriously have nothing else written for next week (but I know what shall happen). As well, this chapter is also extremely long, although nothing terribly exciting happens. Why is it that the further I go into any story, the longer the chapters get? Never mind. Enjoy!**_

Three flashes are what Pit saw that night.

_Flash!_

The first one was of Wario touching Sonic in very private places…Sonic seemed to want Wario to stop, but every time he made a move to try and force Wario off he was hit, forced to lie down, and then fondled in a new place.

_Flash!_

The next one was of Sonic scrubbing while in the shower; he used a lot of soap and washed himself again and again, trying to get more than just the semen and blood off of his body.

_Flash!_

The final one was of the figure from his other dream having sex with Sonic. The figure moaned and rubbed his hands all over Sonic's body, while Sonic simply had his head turned to the side. His eyes were glazed over, like he wasn't even acknowledging what was happening to him. The hedgehog laid there like a rag doll, while the figure had fun with his toy.

XXXXXXXXX

Pit woke up in the middle of the night again, unsure of what to think of the dreams. He had seen everything like he was watching a movie. The angel closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but all he saw instead were the three flickers over and over again. Pit mumbled, sat up, stretched, and then walked downstairs.

He wasn't the only one awake, either. Ike was sitting alone in the dining room, his cheek in his palm, thinking. Pit walked to Ike's table and sat down beside the mercenary, "Why is it that every time I'm up at two A.M. someone else is too?"

"Oh, hey Pit." Ike smiled at the angel before letting his gaze drop back to the table.

"Something wrong?" Pit asked, putting a hand on the mercenary's shoulder. It seemed colder than normal.

"Sort of," Ike sighed, "I was just thinking about what you said before, Pit…about the shadow in the shower and everything, and the message on the mirror? You lied to me then, didn't you? About what he wanted…he was Sonic's rapist, wasn't he?"

"Well, he helped Wario. I still don't know who he is though."

"Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"Because the five of us were afraid of what could happen to Sonic…I mean, the guy tried to kill him. And Sonic would hate us forever if we called the police; the story would be shown around the universe. We wanted it private, just between us Brawlers…"

"Sometimes keeping it private isn't always a good thing," Ike muttered.

"You're not saying we should get the authorities involved, are you?"

"No, it's just that…" Ike sighed, "Promise you won't tell?"

"Cross my heart," Pit replied, drawing an 'x' on his chest.

"Well…back when my father was alive and I traveled with his mercenary group, a wandering solider came upon us. He wished to follow us to the next town, and my father agreed, considering it was dangerous to be alone in those mountains. He was very friendly to the members of our group…and extremely friendly to me, if you catch my drift."

"He raped you?" Pit whispered.

"No; I was fortunate enough not to have that happen. But it was a close call…once when I was out collecting firewood by myself, he attacked me…he pressed me against a tree and stuck his hand down my pants…I never felt so filthy before. He placed a hand over my mouth so I couldn't call for help, but once he tried to take off my clothes I came to my senses, bit him hard and escaped. Once I reached the campsite I got someone else to go off into the forest, and I made sure to stay away from the guy for the rest of the trip."

"Oh…I'm sorry, Ike. At least you got away." Pit wrapped an arm around Ike's shoulders.

"Sort of. I never told my father about the incident – hell, you're the only one I've ever told. I had nightmares for weeks after about the solider tying me down and touching me…I hated myself for what happened and blamed myself for the incident. Eventually I realized that I was thinking the wrong way and that nothing was my fault, and only then did the dreams stop. I must have only been nine or ten back then. I haven't thought about the solider for years…not until now."

"Why is that?" Pit asked.

"Because of what happened to Sonic…think about it, Pit. I was scared of everything for weeks after I was…molested…but that's just it; I was only touched. I know I was younger than Sonic back then, but the incident was much milder. But if it affected me like that…how bad do you think it is for Sonic?"

The angel was quiet for a few seconds, "Oh…I never thought about that. I know it hurt Sonic, but…I never thought how badly it could have affected him."

"All I'm saying is that even if we catch Wario, the Sonic we know is gone. He's not going to be the same after what happened. I just hope he's doing alright…"

"Me too," Pit replied. The angel left immediately after that, thinking to himself that something seemed off about Ike's voice…

XXXXXXXXX

"That was awesome, wasn't it?" Shadow dangled his little foam dragon on a wire in front of Sonic's face. They had just returned from the theme park and had got a few souvenirs, "Hello…?"

"Knock it off," Sonic replied, tossing his foam lion off to the side.

"Alright, fine…" Shadow bent over to pick up the lion so they wouldn't step on it in the morning. Sonic couldn't help but stare at Shadow's form…was he really in love with the black hedgehog?

"Oh yeah…look what I have!" Shadow held up a pink and white, sparkly stuffed unicorn.

"No way…" Sonic blinked in shock, "You actually found one?"

"Yep…meet Sassy! Now Galaxy has a friend!" He tossed the pink unicorn next to the blue one, "Anyways, you've got another therapy session tomorrow morning…wait it is morning…scratch that. Well, time for bed." Shadow picked Sonic up and tossed the blue hedgehog onto his bed, beside the stuffed animals.

"Hey!" Sonic tried to sound annoyed, but it was actually pretty funny.

Shadow chuckled and crawled in next to the blue hedgehog. Sonic sighed, wondering if Shadow would even want to be near him if he found out that Sonic possibly loved him.

The thought completely disappeared from Sonic's mind when he woke up terrified. The strange, black-blue hedgehog was hurting him again instead of Wario. They both did the same things in his dreams – they raped him – but what was mainly different with the two monsters was that the strange hedgehog was more violent with Sonic than Wario was. But it was so strange…where did he come from, and what happened to Wario? Why was this guy hurting him now? And why did he feel even worse about himself because of the guy?

That was what the hedgehog demon did; make him feel worse. Mock him, taunt him, humiliate him…and continue telling Sonic that he was no hero. He even spoke about the park incident, just to hurt him. But why?

Bloody hell. Like Sonic needed anything else to make him more confused and add onto his shame.

Sonic held Galaxy close and snuggled into Shadow's chest, and he allowed himself to cry while Shadow whispered comforting words into his ear.

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh, Sonic…don't listen to them! What about your friends? Shouldn't their opinions matter more than anyone else's?" Dr. Nam had already heard earlier from Tails what had occurred at the park, and from Shadow that Sonic's nightmares had returned worse than before. Once again, Sonic was holding Galaxy close and crying. He hadn't needed Galaxy for a couple of days…he had been getting better, but now…

"You-you were wr-wrong Nam…my-my l-life is a-all about s-sex. I c-can't even s-sl-sleep without ha-having sex!" Sonic hugged Galaxy close, still sobbing.

"Did you hear me, Sonic? Why are you listening to them?"

"How-how did they kn-know that I h-ha-had sex b-b-before?"

"They were drunk! They didn't know anything!"

"Liar! They kn-knew some-something!" Sonic grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes, but soon everything was blurry again because of more tears, "I hate myself! Why do I keep trying to deny everything when it's obvious he's right?"

"Are you talking about Wario?"

"Well, I…I don't know." Sonic sniffed and wiped his eyes again.

"Then who are you talking about?"

"Some…well…instead of Wario hurting me in my dreams lately, it's…it's been another hedgehog."

"Another one? Do you mean Shadow?" Sonic shook his head. "Then who?"

"I don't know his name. All I know is that he hates me and my friends and likes to fuck me."

"Can you describe this other hedgehog for me, please? I want to hear everything you know about them; personality and looks."

Sonic took a deep breath and spouted out what little facts he knew about this strange demon. Dr. Nam looked down at his notes, puzzled for a few minutes. "This is interesting, Sonic," Dr. Nam said, looking up at his patient, "I need some time to come to a positive conclusion but…hmm…"

"Don't you have any ideas?"

"Not really. This is pretty big…I'll go through this in detail later."

"Ok…" Sonic sniffed and loosened his grip slightly on his unicorn.

"_Time to try cognitive therapy with him again. Poor Sonic…I'm surprised he can't even see in the slightest that this wasn't his fault. I'm starting to run out of ideas to speak of!"_

"Ok Sonic…" Dr. Nam sighed and flipped to another piece of paper, "Whose fault was it that you were raped…Wario's or yours?"

"Why do you keep asking me that? It's still mine no matter how many times you say it isn't!"

"Let's try another scenario, ok? You know that during that storm Wario didn't come near you, correct?" Sonic nodded. "Why do you think he didn't touch you?"

"Because somebody else was around me."

"Right! Now, why would he have refrained from raping you because someone else was around?"

"Because…because you're supposed to have sex in private?"

"Well, yes, but why would he want it to be in private?"

"Uh…so he can have me all to himself?"

Dr. Nam inwardly sighed, realizing this idea wasn't going to go anywhere either, "No Sonic, that's not it."

"But it's true!"

"Perhaps, but can you think of another reason he'd want you all alone with no other Brawlers nearby?"

"So we wouldn't be interrupted?"

"Why would you two be interrupted?"

"Because people don't want to see us doing it…"

"Ok, think of it this way. Say if another Brawler came into your room and saw you tied to your bed, Wario on top of you and you pleading for him to stop, what do you think that Brawler would do?"

"…Shut the door and leave us alone?"

"Not quite…"

"Oh, and then go downstairs to tell everyone else that Wario and I are lovers?"

"If you liked what was happening to you then you wouldn't want Wario to stop, and in this scenario you do. So, what would that Brawler do?"

Sonic simply shrugged.

"Did you think that maybe they would force Wario to stop?"

"Maybe…"

"Ok, so they got Wario off of you and now he can't touch you. The Brawler asks you what happened. What do you reply?"

"Wario was just giving me what I deserve."

"They ask you why you deserved this."

"I don't know. I just do."

"What do you think that Brawler would do?"

"Agree with Wario, say that I deserved it, and then let Wario go back to humping me again?

"No Sonic, they wouldn't do that."

"You're not making any sense."

"Look, think harder this time. Say, if once the Brawler gets Wario off of you, they see that you are bleeding from the places Wario was touching you. Who do you think they are going to blame first?"

"…Wario?"

"Correct! So, put the two together. If somebody saw Wario hurt you, then who would be in trouble?"

"Wario."

"So then you can conclude that Wario had to have you alone, for if somebody saw him hurt you he'd get in trouble, not you. Because he's the one getting in trouble, it's his fault that this all happened. Do you see that?"

"…No."

"Why not?"

"He didn't usually leave physical marks on me."

"What if you were bleeding from your…'entrance' again and the Brawler saw Wario forcing you into sex?"

"How would they know it was forced?"

"Sonic, remember; here you're tied up, hurt, and pleading for Wario to stop. All three are good signs that the person doesn't want sex."

"…Oh…"

"So, if you don't want sex and Wario does, and he forces you into having sex, and you're hurt…whose fault is it that you're hurt?"

"Mine."

"How so?"

"Wario has to have a reason for having sex with me."

"Maybe it isn't one that involves you."

"That doesn't make sense! People don't just go around raping others for no damn reason!" A few more tears ran down Sonic's cheeks.

"Maybe all Wario wants is power, and you were there, or perhaps he simply wanted sex. Sonic, it's impossible that we'll ever know his real reason."

"You said you'd find out what the reason was! You promised me!" Sonic's jade green eyes were filled with pain, "If this wasn't my fault then why did it happen? Is there even another reason, or are you lying to me as well? You know this is my fault, don't you?" Sonic began to cry harder.

"No…never for one moment did I ever think this was your fault. Nobody does. Look, do you think it was your fault?"

"Yes."

"When you told Knuckles your story, did he think you deserved it?"

"…No…"

"When he made you tell Tails, did Tails think you caused yourself to be raped?"

"No…"

"When Shadow found out from me and the other two what happened, did he place the blame on you?"

"No…"

"And what about Amy? Did she hate you and shun you once she found out you had been raped?"

"No…"

"So if five out of the seven people who know what happened think it wasn't your fault, why do you believe it is?"

"Because none of you saw me while it was happening! I don't deserve to have them as friends; not after I caused myself to lose my virginity to some guy twice my age!"

Dr. Nam simply shook his head sadly and looked at Sonic, "You may not think you deserve them now, but you earned their respect before all of this. You can't simply wipe the slate clean and ignore everything that happened before. They love you and have stood by you all this time. They haven't given up now, and they never will."

Sonic was quiet for a moment, and then he slowly nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Think of everything they've done for you. Sometimes it makes you wonder what you'd do without them."

"That's easy. I'd kill myself." Dr. Nam simply stared in shock while Sonic explained, "They want me to get better, so it's the only reason I keep trying. But it's so hard I just don't know if I can…I'd have given up ages ago if it wasn't for them." Sonic shuddered, "Right now they need me, and the world needs me. But when they don't, there's no point for my existence anymore."

XXXXXXXXX

"Ok, the house is on some island…uh…" Link looked at the instructions and the map again, "We're really close now, actually."

"Cool," Kirby replied, bringing the warp star closer to the ocean water. Pikachu and Link were sharing a ride; Pit and Meta Knight were flying right beside them.

"I just hope Sonic's ok…and awake," Meta Knight said.

"Pft, it's noon their time…he should be up…" Pikachu shrugged and then gripped Link's shoulder when Kirby headed back up to the sky.

XXXXXXXXX

"Are you saying that you want to kill yourself?" Dr. Nam whispered.

"Sort of…well, I…they still want me…I'm just tired of trying to survive with so much pain. It's hard. It's really, really hard. Sometimes I get so sick of it I want to give up."

"Do you think you will?"

"Not yet…I know they don't want me to die, so I'll keep going."

"That isn't enough, Sonic. You can never live your life for someone else. Just because this one thing happened doesn't suddenly make your life not worth living. You know what? Here's what I want you to do for tomorrow: write down a list of the ten best things that happened to you and the ten worst that happened to you, then bring it back here. It doesn't have to be in any particular order, as long as you have ten on each side. Then we'll see what happens."

"Well…alright."

"And I promise to you I'll get back to you on both your new demon and Wario's motive. Ok?"

"Ok…" Sonic had stopped crying, well, at least a little. He didn't feel a heck of a lot better, but there was still some relief.

He picked up Galaxy and was about to leave the room when Dr. Nam called, "Wait Sonic; can you send Tails in here? I want to speak with him."

"Sure…but why?"

"Just something I want to discuss. It won't take long."

"Alright…" Sonic walked out of the room, a little curious as to what Dr. Nam wanted.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ok, for fuck's sake I'm landing. I swear we've gone off course," Kirby snapped, taking a quick nose-dive to a nearby island. While Kirby was used to doing such tricks on his warp star, Link and Pikachu were not. They clung to the pink puffball for dear life.

"Good; it was time to take a break anyways," Pit sighed and flopped to the ground once he landed, "My wings are so sore…"

"Ok, let's see…we took a right here and a left there…" Pikachu pointed to the spots on the map, "Oh, here's our problem, Kirb. We weren't supposed to go through that tunnel…"

"Aw, fuck. We're going to have to backtrack at least an hour," Kirby moaned and face palmed.

"We still have plenty of time…ready to get going you two?" Link called to Meta Knight and Pit.

"Hell no…my wings feel like they're going to fall off!" Pit sighed and lay flat on the ground.

"We're too tired. Give us a break," Meta Knight added and flopped beside the angel.

"Fine…we'll eat lunch and then you guys can hold onto the warp star and glide the rest of the way," Kirby replied, folding up the map.

"Can your star hold all of that weight?" Pikachu asked.

"Sure, but it will be slower than before…not terribly moves-just-slightly-faster-than-grade-nines-in-the-hallway slow, just…oh, you get it. Let's eat."

XXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for coming, Tails. There's a lot to talk about…" Dr. Nam was pacing back and forth in the room.

"Anything for Sonic…what's up?"

"Tails, Sonic just told me he doesn't even care about himself. The only reason he doesn't want to kill himself anymore is because of his friends. He knows that at least you guys want him to live, so he tries to get better."

"But…if he thinks that way…he's not going to get better."

"I know." Dr. Nam sat down on the couch opposite the one that Tails was standing by, "From the stories I've heard from all of you, I can see that he's usually such a spunky little guy."

"He was always so positive…he seemed to have a spirit that could never break. I just don't understand how he can hate himself so much…" Tails sighed and absently picked at a loose thread on one of the couch cushions; he was still standing, unsure how long this would take, "Do you think it's because of those guys at the park? We were so stupid in bringing him there…"

"No; that was still a good idea. He was happy while he talked about it; the only time he got sad was when he got to that part. Otherwise, he really enjoyed it. You'll have to take him out more often."

"We just won't stay out as late."

"Precisely."

"So, what is it that you want to talk about?"

"Did Shadow tell you of this new demon of Sonic's?" Tails nodded. "Well, I've been thinking about this, and I think I know why Sonic's feeling so down about himself."

"Why?"

"This no longer has to do with Wario, his memories or those drunks at the park. This has to do with himself. I think he's conjured up his own nightmare, putting into it everything that he thinks is wrong with him – that he can't stop himself from being raped, that everyone thinks he's worthless, and that all he's good for is sex. He's got a look alike of himself attacking him…Sonic is putting so much blame and guilt on himself that's he unknowingly become his worst enemy."

"You mean he's lost confidence in himself as a friend and hero."

"You're correct. And he's going to keep believing these things unless he's shown otherwise." Dr. Nam took a deep breath, "Tails, you have to call the Base, tell them what happened and make Wario pay for what he's done."

"I know I should…I want to, but Sonic begged for us not to tell. Even having five others know is pushing his limits."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sonic hates having to depend on anyone or anything," Tails sighed and slumped down onto the couch Sonic usually sat on, "And yet now he's relying on pills, Galaxy and all of us to help him. He cries every night remembering everything that has happened…he just wants to forget it, and talking to the Brawlers will just bring back more horrible memories for him. Especially of Wario; Sonic must hate him."

"Sonic doesn't hate Wario a fraction of how much he hates himself. He still thinks it's his entire fault he was raped. Self blame in one of the most common things that happen to rape victims, and Sonic's probably the worst case I've ever seen. I'm trying cognitive therapy with him, but so far…he won't work with it. Right now he can't seem to get the idea even slightly in his head that this is Wario's fault; not his."

"So what does calling the Base have to do with this?"

"I think Sonic needs to hear first-hand from Wario that he didn't cause the assaults. Until then, Sonic is going to believe he's done something wrong, and he'll never put this behind him."

"Ha! Do you actually think that son of a bitch is going to tell Sonic that he's innocent? He'll just laugh and hurt Sonic even more. Sonic's heart is so unstable…I never thought he'd ever have his will destroyed like this. If just a few more bad things happen…I think Sonic is going to completely lose his mind. Poor Sonic is absolutely terrified of everything and everyone. We always have to make noise when we walk around the place so he knows we're there. Sometimes we'll just be sitting around, perfectly fine, and then all of a sudden he'll burst into tears. It's…it's…" Tails looked down at the ground, "I shouldn't say that about him…"

"Nobody can hear us, and I won't say anything."

"It's frustrating sometimes. He's hard to live with. I know you warned us he would be, but…I'm so afraid for him. The way this is going, it doesn't seem like he'll ever be able to move on and actually find somebody to love him. He wasn't interested in the idea before, but now I think he's going to shy away from such things for the rest of his life. I just don't want to see him alone forever while everyone else has families and stuff…" Tails shook his head, "Ok, so maybe I'm looking too far ahead in the future. But the idea is still there."

"I see what you mean, but don't be too worried. Most victims are able to move on and live just fine…but Sonic can't live for someone else."

"So…I call the Base, get Wario arrested, and then we make him tell Sonic it wasn't his fault, and by doing so Sonic will get his confidence back and everything will be butterflies and rainbows again. Right?"

"Well, he won't get better that quickly, but it will give him some relief from his hardships. Yes, you need to call."

"Pft…it would be easier to call Eggman and ask him to lose to Sonic in a fight so Sonic can feel better about himself. Heck, that's more likely to happen as well," Tails replied sarcastically.

"Tails, please try. If Sonic keeps thinking this low of himself he's never going to get better…he may even try committing suicide again. He really wants and needs the reason behind his rapes. Just try…for him."

"Ok…I will. I don't think it will work, but I'll give it a shot."

"Sonic might be angry at you to start out, but once you get the answer he'll thank you. See you tomorrow, Tails. And remember to call me if anything changes with Sonic."

"Of course." Tails went back into the living room and to whatever board game they were playing now while the psychiatrist left the house.

"One last piece…damn it! Stupid 'Perfection'!" Shadow threw the last piece down on the table just as the timer ran out, popping up all of the little yellow plastic pieces.

"Well, you were closer than the rest of us," Amy laughed.

"Tails, want to give it a shot?" Sonic asked, waving him over. He had placed Galaxy next to Sassy on the coffee table, and both unicorns looked like they were watching the game.

Tails' mind was still debating over whether to listen to the therapist or to Sonic, and he played the game like a robot…surprisingly enough, he actually made it just in time before his work was all popped up.

"Wow! You're the first person I've ever seen who could do that!" Sonic patted Tails on the back, "You're a 'Perfection' champion!"

"Huh? Oh yeah…"

"You're certainly occupied." Sonic tipped his head slightly to the side, showing concern, "What's up, buddy?"

"Nothing…I'm just thinking, is all." _"Perhaps there's a way __**I**__ can make him realize that he's not at fault?"_

"Alright…what else can we do?"

"There's 'Life'…want to play that?" Amy dug through the games and pulled it out.

Everyone picked their little car and began to play the game. A half hour later, they were still going through…

"Ok, can I have another car? I have too many kids!" Shadow's black plastic car was filled with the pieces representing children, and he just landed on a square that said, 'Congratulations on your quintuplets!'

"For crying out loud Shadow, pace yourself!" Everyone laughed and Knuckles handed over an empty green one. Shadow stuck out his tongue jokingly and then dumped the little children into the new car.

"Your move, Tails. Youngest first!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Tails spun and moved four spaces, "Oh goodie, a life card…"

"What did you get?" Sonic asked.

"Apparently I have invented a new kind of plane…oh, the irony…whatever; fifty thousand for me."

"Cool…here you go." Amy was proclaimed the banker, mainly because she was the only one everyone was certain of that wouldn't cheat, "My roll…great, I have to change houses now…and mine was the best one!" Amy sighed and dug through the cards.

The doorbell rang, and everyone's gaze turned to the door. "Maybe Dr. Nam forgot something…" Sonic muttered, and he stood up and ran to open it.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ok, I'm really sorry I got us all lost and we had to backtrack. But I did get us here, thank you very much," Kirby sighed.

"I just hope someone's home…" Pit sighed and stretched his wings; that was a long flight!

Eventually the door swung open, and a blue hedgehog stood in the doorway. His eyes widened when he saw the five Brawlers there.

"Hey Sonic, we need to –" Meta Knight trailed off at the hedgehog's expression, and Sonic's eyes just got bigger and bigger. He started to shake, and his eyes were shining with fear. He slammed the door shut and they could hear him run away.

"What was that all about?" Link asked, confused.

"He certainly didn't seem happy to see us…" Pikachu looked at the door, completely stunned.

In a moment it opened again, and Tails was standing there, "Oh, so it's you guys! Come on in…Sonic, get down here! They're your friends!"

"No! Make them go away!" Sonic's voice came from somewhere upstairs, and he sounded scared.

"What?" Tails mumbled. He then turned back to the Brawlers, "Hang on a second…Shadow, go fetch Sonic!"

"I'm trying!" Shadow called back down, "But he's gripped the bedpost so hard I can't pry his fingers off!"

"Hang on Shadow…I'm coming to help!" Knuckles ran up the stairs.

Amy appeared from the living room doorway, "What's going on?"

"Amy, these are some of the Brawlers…Link, Pit, Meta Knight, Kirby and Pikachu." Tails named everyone off and pointed to them in turn, "I don't why they're here, though."

"We need to speak to Sonic…we found out what happened, you know, with Wario…did Sonic tell you?" Pikachu asked.

"Yeah; he told us only a couple of days after he returned. We have him in therapy and everything, but he's still…disturbed," Tails sighed and motioned for the Brawlers to follow him and Amy into the living room, "I'm sorry I didn't call you guys, but Sonic begged for us not to say a word."

"It's ok," Link replied, "But we want to fix things now."

Just a few minutes later, the shouting and thumps from upstairs became louder, and finally Shadow and Knuckles managed to drag Sonic into the living room. The blue hedgehog was struggling to make the others let go of him, and they had a hard time making Sonic sit down in a chair close to the couch. Knuckles and Shadow stood beside Sonic, while everyone else either sat on the couch cushions or armrests.

"What the hell do you guys want? Just leave me alone!" Sonic burst out.

"Sonic…we know what happened to you….with Wario," Pit said.

Sonic's eyes went wide, "But…but how?"

The five Brawlers took turns explaining the entire story, and Sonic's face became more worried with every word. Once Pikachu said they told everyone at the Base, Sonic snapped, "Why the fuck did you do that? I didn't want anyone else to know! Do you know what they must think of me now? You fucking jerks!"

"Sonic, please let us finish!" Meta Knight interrupted, and Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand, silencing the hurt hedgehog.

The Brawlers went through the rest of the story, and Link finished off, "Sonic, Wario needs to pay for what he's done. Don't you have anything at all that's from him?"

Sonic's head was down, so nobody could see his expression. His shoulders were shaking slightly, but he didn't say a word.

"Please, Sonic; think! Maybe he gave you a little talisman or something? We can't open the portal without your help," Kirby said.

"What about the cuff? Perhaps he gave you something that goes with it? Or maybe you even found something he wanted? Help us help you, Sonic!" Pikachu pleaded.

"Do you want to help me? Do you really, really want to help me?" Sonic whispered; his voice low and angry.

"Yes, we do! Come on; will you just think?" Link asked.

"I've already thought enough. The only way you can help me is getting the fuck out of here and staying the fuck out of my life." Sonic now looked up, and his eyes were filled with rage, "I don't care what happens to Wario. He's made me into used goods now, something that nobody would ever want…"

"We want you!" Amy interrupted, "And they want you!" she pointed to the Brawlers.

"You know what I really mean! Who the hell would want to make love to a little slut like me? Wario's damaged me beyond repair now!" Through his rage Sonic's eyes were beginning to tear up.

"You may think you're impure, but you aren't! Wario may have taken your body, but he can't take your soul unless you let him!" Meta Knight replied.

"You're allowing Wario to hurt you. You're safe here, Sonic. It's all over…" Shadow said softly, rubbing Sonic's back.

"You're damn right it's all over," Sonic snapped, and he started to cry, "All of you; get the fuck out. I don't ever want to go through those nightmares again. Don't you have any clue how damn hard it is for me to live? I don't even care about myself anymore…I'm bloody worthless."

"No you're not! Think about how amazing you are! How many people can save the universe?" Kirby asked.

"Everyone here in this room, and more than two hundred others outside of it," Sonic replied.

"That's like two hundred fifty in a universe of trillions. You have some amazing skills that you just can't waste. Please Sonic, you're a hero. We all care about you, no matter what has happened," Pikachu said, trying one final time to get Sonic to help them.

"No," Sonic sobbed, "I don't fucking care abut Brawls or anything anymore. I just want a chance to be able to start over and hopefully move on. I can't even sleep at night because Wario haunts my dreams. The last thing I need is to see him for real." He looked at each Brawler in turn through his tears, "Now all of you go away. I…I don't want to see any of you Brawlers again. I don't even want to hear about you guys again; being shown as heroes when I am no longer one!" Sonic leaned his arms on the armrest and buried his face into the fabric.

The only sound in the room for about a minute was Sonic crying. Eventually Pit sighed and stood up, "We should just leave. Thanks for letting us talk to him anyways."

"At least you tried," Tails said, speaking to them at the door while the Brawlers picked up their things, "I'm going to try as well. If I get anything from him, this time I swear I'll call, regardless of what Sonic says."

"Thanks Tails," Pikachu replied, shaking the fox's hand, "By the way…where's Kirby?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Sonic?" Kirby whispered, slowly walking closer to the chair. The puffball had waited until the other four left the room before moving closer to the hurt hedgehog.

Knuckles and Shadow smiled sadly at Kirby, but they let him come closer. Amy moved to stand beside the echidna, but said nothing against Kirby's movement.

Kirby slowly took Sonic's hand and gave it a small squeeze, "I just want you to know that…even if you don't think you are…and no matter what's happened…you'll always be a hero to me." Sonic didn't stop sobbing, so Kirby wasn't completely sure if the blue hedgehog heard him, but the puffball knew he shouldn't linger any longer. He silently mouthed, 'thank you,' to the others before turning to leave the room.

Tails was standing by the front door, and the other Brawlers were already outside and waiting for the puffball. "Kirby, hold on a second. Don't go home just yet. Give me a chance to have Sonic change his mind. I have an idea…don't leave."

Kirby nodded, knowing there was no point in returning to the Base empty-handed anyways, "Ok, when should I return?"

"Tomorrow morning. Here's a bit of cash so you guys can buy yourself something to eat or whatever." Tails handed a small plastic wallet with a dolphin on the side to Kirby, "It's not much, but it's something."

"Thanks, Tails. Sonic's lucky to have a friend like you." The puffball gave one final wave before leaving the house.

Once the Brawlers left, Tails went back to the living room. Not much had changed, except that Amy was holding Sonic and allowing him to cry on her shoulder, while the other two sat on the couch. Nobody else said a word.

"Hey guys, I'm going out for a bit. You know how to reach me," Tails said, breaking the silence.

"Ok," Knuckles replied, and Shadow nodded. The two hedgehogs on the chair gave no sign that they heard the fox.

Tails slowly made his way outside and walked away from the house. After some time, he came to a tall oak tree; bigger than any other tree in the area by at least a couple feet.

"This is perfect," Tails whispered, running his hand over the bark, "I just need to get Sonic here before sunrise tomorrow. He'll probably wake up again from his demon tonight anyways…perhaps we can talk then."

XXXXXXXXX

_Sonic was in a strange bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror above the sink. He then looked down at the white costume neatly folded and placed on the counter. It was an angel costume, and he was supposed to put it on…_

"_Come on, Sonic. What's taking you so long?" Sonic shuddered when he heard the voice call out to him. It wasn't Wario; it was…that other guy…_

_The strange blackish hedgehog from before came over and knocked on the door, "Everything alright in there?"_

"_Yeah, just fine," Sonic called back. He bit his lip and slowly grabbed the first piece of the costume. It was the top, but was nothing more than a long white piece of cloth with two loops on the smaller ends to stick his arms through. Sonic slipped it on and used the clip on one loop in order to hold the thing up. The next item was…a skirt? Sonic shook his head in disbelief. Whoever this hedgehog was, they certainly had strange tastes…_

"_That's right Sonic…put it all on." The figure was still outside the door, laughing like he knew what Sonic was thinking. With trembling fingers Sonic managed to wrap the skirt around his waist and tie a knot for the drawstrings over his left hip. After that came the wings, which looked more like butterfly wings and covered with fake white fur, but at least they were easy to put on, considering they had elastic shoulder straps. Finally came the halo, which was just a gold plastic loop attached to a headband. _

_Sonic opened the door, still slightly trembling, and the other hedgehog looked up and down his body. The blackish hedgehog nodded with satisfaction, and placed one ice blue fur covered hand just above Sonic's right knee, "Very good, L.A.," he whispered, running his hand up Sonic's thigh. He stopped with his hand on Sonic's rear and gave a small squeeze, "But you seem to be missing something…"_

"_Missing what?" Sonic whispered, fighting the urge to kick this monster away from him._

"_This." The figure laughed and held up something small and made of silk. Sonic was confused for a moment, but once he realized what the dark hedgehog was holding he backed away._

"_What the…? I'm not wearing that!" _

"_You don't have a choice, L.A. You're my little sex slave, and you have to do whatever I ask of you. Besides, you could say I lust for slaves who wear silk panties…"_

"_You pervert! No! I won't!" Sonic slapped the other hedgehog's hand away, "You're disgusting." _

"_Correction, L.A.; you're disgusting. You're the one that will suck me off…"_

"_No! I won't do anything like that! Never again!" Sonic stepped back and was about to slip off his wings when a punch to the stomach knocked him off balance._

_Sonic went down to his knees, gasping for air. The dark hedgehog grabbed Sonic's head quills and forced the emerald colored eyes to look into his own blood red ones, "Listen to me, L.A. You don't have an option. You belong to me. Now you shall submit to me or I shall force you to submit to me."_

"_No…" _

_The dark hedgehog slapped Sonic hard across one cheek, "Submit!" He backhanded Sonic on the other cheek, "Submit!"_

"_It's my body! This is my choice!" The other hedgehog snarled and continued to pound the blue one._

_One final punch knocked Sonic over, and he could feel blood beginning to run down the side of his head. "No L.A., it's not your choice. Look around. Who's going to save you? Nobody can save you now. It's too late; the damage has been done. Now you can either submit to me or lose what precious little dignity you have left."_

"_What dignity?" Sonic moaned, "You took that away from me since day one."_

"_At least you never had to face the world without your powers, Sonic. You still have those."_

"_What good are powers if they can't even protect me from you?" Sonic forced himself to get up, at least to his hands and knees, "And why should I keep them if getting rid of them means I would no longer have to go through this torture every night…"_

"_Because, L.A.," the dark hedgehog whispered, tilting Sonic's chin up so he could stare into those sad eyes, "If I lose you, I shall go after one of your friends."_

"_You won't. Liar."_

_The dark hedgehog laughed, "It's not just about you and what you've done to me, L.A. Your other pesky little forest animal friends also took part in my entrapment. My partner wanted revenge just on you. Wario isn't into this, but I'm going for the whole deal."_

"_What are you talking about? This…this is real, isn't it? You really knew me."_

_The dark hedgehog chuckled, "Mephiles is my name, and this is my game…now, you shall bow down to me, or I'll come after you and your friends." He brushed Sonic's cheek with two clawed fingers, "How fun that would be…"_

_Sonic felt so strange. For some reason, he knew this guy was serious. And real, so very real…he had to submit. He took a deep breath and looked up at Mephiles, "I'm all yours."_

"_It's 'Master', fool."_

"_I'm all yours, Master."_

_Mephiles laughed and got down on his knees. He grabbed Sonic's head quills and yanked harshly to the left, forcing Sonic to fall on his side. Mephiles then went down to Sonic's legs and slipped the silk garment onto the blue hedgehog. Sonic shivered and tried hard not to make a sound. Mephiles rubbed his hand on Sonic's thigh, pushing the silk fabric into the blue fur, "Now that's being a good boy. Come on now; stand up."_

_Sonic shakily got to his feet, while Mephiles stood up right away. He linked his hands under Sonic's rear and pulled the blue hedgehog close to him. He squeezed and caressed Sonic's body, and even kissed Sonic's cheek a few times, "We're going to have such a good time, L.A."_

_Sonic hated this; unlike his other dream, this was far from feeling right. Mephiles was pushing for his needs and desires, not caring about the other. Like before, all of Sonic's emotions were carefully sealed away for the time being. But he had one question before everything began, "What does L.A. mean?"_

"_It means Little Angel," Mephiles whispered into Sonic's ear, moving his hands so he was now touching Sonic's bare bottom, "You're the little angel of pleasure. Where ever you go, you'll give people pleasure. Especially me…I took your virginity, but here you are again, looking absolutely innocent. Too bad I'm going to steal that innocence from you as well…" He took Sonic's hand and led him to a huge king-sized bed; the only piece of furniture in the room. Mephiles pushed Sonic down so the sapphire hedgehog was on his knees in front of him while he sat on the bed. He spread his legs apart and forced Sonic's head between, "Come on, L.A.…you know what to do."_

_With that organ pushing against his lips, Sonic relented and allowed Mephiles to have his way. The dark hedgehog moaned and kept thrusting inside Sonic's mouth, and Sonic was beginning to choke at the movements. This was terrifying…it was like knowing he was going to lose his virginity, even though that already happened. _

"_Sonic, suck it…suck it like a lollipop…" Sonic obeyed the order like a robot. There was nothing left of the blue hero – just a dark, empty shell that had seemingly lost everything._

_The semen soon filled his mouth, and Sonic was having trouble breathing with Mephiles' organ still inside. Coughing, some of the fluid fell out and dripped down his chest. Even though after swallowing the mouthful and wiping up the remains and eating it too, just like he had been taught, Mephiles wasn't satisfied. He had rubbed himself and grown hard again while watching Sonic eat, and he decided to give the hedgehog a punishment._

_He held erection in front of Sonic's face, grabbed Sonic's right hand and placed it on the organ, "Get pumping, L.A. You're being punished, for angels are supposed to be perfect…" He laughed at Sonic's confusion, although he trailed off once Sonic began to rub._

_Sonic had never actually done this before. Wario had always been the one who had pumped and made the semen splatter all over Sonic's face; not himself. But now that he was doing it, it felt awful – it was like trying to eat something disgusting with no one forcing you. You were really just hurting yourself._

_His eyes shut when Mephiles came, and the warm fluid quickly covered his face. Sonic took deep breaths while the semen slowly ran down his face and settled around his lips._

"_Eat every last drop, L.A. Be good now…" Sonic nodded slowly, wiping his hand over a spot and then licking it off. Mephiles was quite enjoying this show. This was going to be so much fun…_

_Once Sonic finished, Mephiles reached under the blue hedgehog's arms and lifted Sonic into his lap, "You're beautiful, my little angel. So sexy…it's nice that we can do this together." He lightly grabbed Sonic's halo and flicked it off to the side. He pulled down the wings and took those off too. The last thing he pulled off was the top, and after throwing that away he rubbed Sonic's chest, toned from years of running although hidden under his fur, "A pure little angel, tainted by a dark demon. Funny how things work, eh?" _

_He reached under Sonic's skirt and grasped the silk underneath. He had only forced Sonic to wear it for this reason…how fun it would be to take it off. Mephiles drew out the process of taking the garment off, wriggling the fabric slowly down, and moving his hands underneath Sonic's rear so he could squeeze and pull at the same time. Eventually he flung the panties away and went back under the skirt._

_Sonic was shaking, but didn't make a sound. He felt even dirtier than before – probably because of the costume, and having it taken off of him…it was like some sort of barrier that had protected him from Mephiles._

_The sapphire hedgehog squeaked when Mephiles forced a finger inside Sonic's entrance. Mephiles smiled knowingly and slowly began to push in deeper. He then inserted another finger and then a third…Sonic was whimpering and squeezing Mephiles' shoulders hard. Mephiles didn't care though; he was causing a lot more pain for the blue hedgehog than what Sonic was doing to him. He took his time with moving around inside the overly tight hole, stretching it. Then he began to thrust inside, trying to get his fingers deeper in. But it was hard; the pain made Sonic clench up, tightening his entrance up so much that Mephiles could barely move. After a couple more thrusts, Mephiles gave up and pulled out, ready for the real deal. Sonic didn't sigh in relief of give any sense of relaxation; he had gone through this so many times he knew what was going to happen._

_Mephiles turned around and laid Sonic on the bed. He crawled on top of his victim, untied the skirt and tossed the garment away. Sonic was trembling in fear, already knowing what was going to occur. Mephiles looked at Sonic, checking out his beautiful body. Just like that first night, he looked innocent and pure, like he had never had sex before. Of course, that was way off…but that was ok. Mephiles didn't mind reusing something if he had been the one who had used it the first time. The dark hedgehog couldn't wait one more minute. He kissed Sonic's cheek one final time before pushing inside._

_Sonic cried out when his entrance was stretched once again. His body was trying to take on the penetration, but couldn't do it. Sonic could feel the tissues tearing and the blood beginning to flow. Mephiles didn't give a single sign that he cared; he just continued to pound inside Sonic's aching body. Damn, Sonic felt so good…why was it that no matter how many times he raped L.A. he always felt fresh and untainted? _

"_You'd make a good whore, L.A. You could sell yourself off as a virgin again and again and nobody could tell the difference. How the hell do you stay so freaking tight? Must be from all that running…it builds up good endurance, too." Mephiles smiled and thrust in harder._

_The pain was nearly unbearable. This one time, Sonic couldn't ignore it. There wasn't any armor protecting him from the cuts and bruises, and there were no shields protecting his heart from all of the knives being stabbed into it. He was alone in his misery, alone in his nightmare of which there was no escape. _

"_Look at you," Mephiles panted, looking down at Sonic, "Some hero you are. Can't you stop this, L.A.? Oh wait, you can't because you don't have any powers to fight back with." The dark hedgehog laughed, although it seemed raspy through his pants of lust._

"_I hate you," Sonic whimpered, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…"_

"_Correction, Sonic; you hate yourself. I know that if you had the chance to go back in time and lose your virginity to someone else you'd take it in a heartbeat. But you know what, Sonic? You know what? Why'd you keep it in the first place? I mean – oh gods, fuck talking, I just want you…" Mephiles gasped and let out another moan as he thrust deeper inside Sonic. He brushed against that spot in the blue hedgehog, who whimpered from the pleasure._

_Mephiles didn't bother talking any more; he was completely focused on making love to his victim. He pounded into that spot as hard as he could, trying to make Sonic feel even worse about himself. But the pleasure only helped cover up the pain for Sonic – it didn't make him feel good enough to be turned on by it. At least there was a small win over Mephiles. _

_It wasn't much longer before Sonic felt Mephiles' warm seed beginning to drip inside of his tight hole. At first there was only a little, then a bit more, and then the wave of semen rushed inside, filling every space that wasn't taken up by Mephiles. The dark hedgehog moaned and waited until he was finished before pulling out, letting some of his seed free to run down between Sonic's legs._

"_Best little angel anywhere, Sonic. Such a nice, tight fuck." Mephiles sat up, looked at the ceiling and sighed. He seemed to want to linger longer, but didn't have the time. He stood up and brushed himself off, "Well, see you tomorrow, little angel." _

"_Tomorrow?" Sonic whispered, "What do you mean 'tomorrow'?"_

"_I'm coming back to see you again and again…I've got all the time there is. That is, until I figure out a way to get myself back to your world. Then we'll have the best of times together." He laughed and caressed Sonic's cheek one last time, "I've been waiting so long for this, Sonic. And when I find you, I'll make sure you'll be mine forever."_

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic's eyes opened wide. It was still dark out, and all he saw was blackness. That and Mephiles' mocking face, over and over again…he had to get away.

Sonic could hear the dark hedgehog's laughter sounding throughout the room, cruel and cold. "Shut up," Sonic whimpered, "Shut up and leave me alone!"

"Something up, Sonic?" Shadow whispered sleepily, reaching for Sonic's hand. Sonic pushed the black hedgehog away.

"No, no…this is all wrong! Everything's wrong!"

Shadow sat up with a start, "Sonic, what's with you?"

"Get Mephiles away from me! Shadow, help me!"

"Get who away from you? What's going on?"

"Just, no...no!" Sonic clambered out of bed and raced out of the room. Shadow followed the blue hedgehog, trying to catch up to him. He soon lost sight of Sonic in the dark, and Shadow slowed down, trying to figure out where Sonic hid. For fifteen minutes there was no sign of Sonic anywhere, but then Shadow reached the kitchen. The place had been ransacked. Somebody had furiously looked throughout the place, found out where the knives were hidden, and then taken one…

"Oh hell no," Shadow whispered, dashing upstairs to wake the others up.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic didn't bother limiting the cuts to just his palms and wrists. He made them everywhere. It's not like his friends didn't know what he did anyways.

But if they knew, why was he out here, on a grassy hill far away outside so they couldn't see Sonic hurting himself?

Another two cuts on his left arm and then three on his right. Five more wounds on his wrists and his chest.

But he was cutting himself the most in a new place – on the inside of his thighs. That was the place where he felt the most tainted. Instead of trying to hide his mental pain by hurting himself, now he was trying to get rid of it entirely. He was trying to get the demon out from under his skin by giving it a way out.

He was lightly bleeding from everywhere; not a single place he could see on his body was unscathed. And even some of the places he couldn't see were damaged…like his entrance. That one spot on his body made him feel more horrible than anything else possibly could, but it already hurt so much from running out here that cutting himself near there wouldn't make a difference.

"_Why can't I get rid of you? Why won't you just leave me alone? Why won't you tell me what I've done in order to have you inside of me?" _Sonic slashed himself on his thigh again, knowing that the last thought had a double meaning.

"What am I doing wrong? Why can't I stop this?" Sonic shouted a few questions out into the night, although he knew nobody could answer them.

It quiet for a few minutes, and then Sonic brought the knife to his arm and made another cut on it. He was so focused on his cutting that he didn't even notice that somebody was watching him. The fox sighed, and then slowly walked towards his blue friend and sat down beside him. Sonic flinched, knowing Tails must be thinking that he was weak. So much for being a good role model.

Tails, however, didn't say a word or reach for the knife. He simply sat there quietly, watching Sonic self harm. Once the hedgehog finished a couple more cuts, he let his hands rest in his lap. Only then did Tails lean forward, grasp part of the handle in his hand and pull. Sonic let Tails have it, and the kitsune twisted halfway around and lightly tossed the blade away. Then he turned back to face Sonic, still silent.

Sonic couldn't even look at his friend. He felt so deeply ashamed of everything he'd done; the cutting, the yelling and the sexual favors…all things he never dreamed of happening. He was supposed to be somebody everyone looked up to, not a whore who cut himself trying to get better. Sonic didn't even know what to say, so the two simply sat there in silence. Slowly Tails stood up and offered his hand to Sonic, "Come with me."

The hedgehog took the hand, and the fox led him down the hill and back to one of the forests. They walked silently hand in hand for some time, until the two reached a tall maple tree. It had to be at least ten meters taller than any other in the forest.

"Do you see that tree, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Yeah…" Sonic replied. He was still bleeding, although his injuries weren't life-threatening. He wanted to live, no matter how painful and hard it would be.

"I'm going to walk around that tree trunk," Tails said, "And when I come around from the other side, I'm no longer Tails. I'm no longer even one person; I'm two – Wario and Mephiles. Yet because I will be two people, it's impossible for me to move very far from that tree, and I won't be able to touch you. You will be completely safe from harm. And once I become those two, you're going to talk to them. You're going to ask them any questions you may have and tell them anything you wish for them to know. Once you are finished, Mephiles and Wario are going to walk around the tree again and I will become Tails once more. Do you understand?"

"Well…ok…" _"What's Tails getting at here?"_

Tails nodded, and then he walked in silence to the tree. The star and moonlight lit up the fox's shining yellow fur, making it seem almost magical in the night air.

Tails placed his left hand on the rough bark of the tree and began to circle it. He walked around the entire perimeter once with his hand on the trunk, and then stopped in front of the tree to turn around and face Sonic, removing his hand. Tails then stood quietly there, waiting for Sonic to begin.

"This…this doesn't make any sense. I can see you're still my friend. What am I really supposed to do? Just talk like Wario's actually there?" Tails didn't respond.

The two stood quietly facing each other, waiting for something to happen. The longer they stood there, the more it seemed to Sonic that Wario and Mephiles were actually listening. Perhaps this idea really would work…

Sonic took a deep breath, "Wario, I…" Sonic gulped and hesitated, for he could almost sense Wario's presence there. Tails was no more than five meters in front of him – or was it Wario?

The fox didn't move; he simply blinked and waited.

"Wario, I just want to know why you lied to me so many times. Why couldn't you give me a reason for raping me? I just…I just don't understand what I've done wrong. I mean, I treated everyone the same, and they didn't do this to me.

"And…and why did you want to rape me? I mean, if you hated me, why didn't you do something else like beat me up or something? Why did you choose rape above every other torture method?"

Sonic's head went down, and he whimpered, "Why did you make me do such things? I never thought I would become somebody's sex slave…I feel absolutely filthy. I scrub and scrub, but I can never get rid of that feeling that I've been used. I've done so many terrible things…" Sonic looked at his bloody arms, "Look at me, Wario. Look at me! Can't you see what I've started doing because of you? All of those painful memories are crawling beneath my skin and I just can't get them out! Like that one time when you made me pick a letter, and whatever I did you found something in my room to hurt me with? Like when I said, 'C' you placed me over a chair and spanked me, and when I picked, 'M' you grabbed a marker and wrote, 'slut' all over my face? I was in the bathroom for two hours washing that stuff off! And I remember what night it was; the twelfth night.

"Damn right I remember! I remember every single little disgusting thing you put me through! And no matter how hard I try, I can't forget! Every day I remember and every night I relive it! Didn't you ever think for one second what was going to happen to me? I'm not a rock! I have feelings that can be hurt! And you went beyond hurting them! You…you turned me into an absolute wreck. Look, here I am crying. I don't usually cry…but now I can never stop.

"Why did you make me go through so much pain? I hurt…everything hurts. My body, my mind, my heart…I can barely keep going anymore. It's hard. And now I have to drag my friends down with me through the most horrible things that nobody should be forced to experience. Just…why, Wario? Didn't you think I at least deserved to know what I did to deserve this? I mean, come on! And you even have more secrets…like Mephiles. Why are you hiding everything from me?"

Sonic began to cry hard, and he dropped to his knees. Tails didn't move; he simply stood there like a statue. Once Sonic got over his crying fit, he still looked at the ground when he talked, although his voice was raspy from crying, "Mephiles, I want to know who you are and why you hate me and my friends. I don't have any memory of you, yet you hate me with a passion. What did I do wrong? And why are you saying you took my virginity? That was Wario, not you. Are you two friends or something? I know you're a part of this somehow, but…maybe you helped Wario with the cuff? Did you watch us have sex? You want to have sex with me, don't you? You think I'm a slut. Well, join the fucking club. You and your fucking sick fantasies. I'm not your little angel. Do I look like an angel or a hero? You make it pretty damn clear I'm not either of those!

Sonic took a deep breath, "Why do you haunt my dreams now, raping me instead of Wario raping me? And why are you saying you'll take my friends if I don't obey you? Maybe you're mistaking me for someone else. But why do you want to have sex so badly? If it causes so much misery, it can't be good…

"That's another thing for both of you; why is sex so important to you that you'll hurt me just to have it?" Sonic's voice began to choke up, and his eyes began to fill with tears again, "Didn't you ever see how much pain I was in? You hurt more than just my body. I hate myself. I've done so many disgraceful things that I…" Sonic looked down at his bloody cuts, "I now hurt myself. I'm not even really sure why. It makes the pain go away, but…I think I also do it because I deserve it. But I'm not sure what I've done to deserve it. Why did you guys have to go to so much trouble to have me? Was it because I was a hero and you hated me? Or because I was a virgin and you wanted to destroy that innocence? I mean…I didn't want to give up my virginity to just whoever happened to come by. I was taught you need to give it someone you love and trust…it was something precious. What the hell did you guys learn? That it was ok; that others don't care who they give it to; that a slut like me doesn't deserve that choice?

"It just isn't fair! I wasn't ready! Don't you remember that night in January, when everyone was sitting around the fire, and it was late and we were tired? So the conversation starts getting sexual…and I get asked who I've had sex with, and when I said, 'nobody', I explained that I wanted to wait a few years until I matured some more and everyone agreed it was a good idea, including you? So what the fuck? Did you just decide that it was bad and that all heroes should sleep around? Sixteen…I mean, it's still ok and normal if you're a virgin then. I wanted to wait a couple of years…" Sonic sniffed, "But, now…why did you suddenly decide that I shouldn't wait? What have I done wrong?

"I…I want…I want to make things right. If there's something wrong with me, I want to fix it. You've corrupted me…I've done so many bad things. Not just having sex with you, but more things to myself. All I can think about is sex. The idea follows me everywhere like a shadow. Every night I think I still should be having sex with you. I know I don't deserve to be treated like a sex toy, but I sure feel like that's all I am. You told me that's all I'm good for, and you showed that to me. All of my friends tell me otherwise and showed me the other side of the story…so why am I only listening to you?

"That's a good question…why am I only listening to you?" Sonic looked up and glared at Tails, who didn't even flinch. Sonic slowly stood up, and his voice grew angry, "Both of you have lied so many fucking times. Why couldn't you be lying this time? Maybe you're both wrong and my friends are right. As for yesterday…they were drunk. They're wrong too. All plain wrong. This…I sound like a lunatic. It seems like I'm having one-sided conversation because I _am_ having a one-sided conversation! You guys just used me, told me crap and left. You didn't care whether or not it made sense – as long as you were able to fuck me it was good.

"Were you planning on me killing myself? I almost did that because of you! I did so many things believing I was getting what I deserved. All I heard for so fucking long was how this was my entire fault. And it happened while I was being raped. You taught me fucking shit. You taught me how to pleasure your cock, and how to beg to be fucked. You taught me to swallow semen without becoming sick and how to 'enjoy' being spanked. All along, that's what you said you taught me. All of that got permanently planted into my skull. But now, when somebody comes in and tells me what I've learned is all wrong, I have a hard time believing it. It took me a month to finally see.

"How could I have been so blind? Both of you are nothing but deceiving, filthy, horny liars. Everything you've told me was twisted to fit your own desires and needs; not my own or the truth. You may have taught me to do those things, but what you actually and truly taught me was that I should believe I'm worthless and how to hide a horrible secret from others."

Sonic began panting heavily, from a combination of anger and lack of air from speaking so much, "Yes, I did do those sexual things, and I may be a filthy whore, but I wasn't before all of this happened. I was just a young teen trying to get used to all of these changes happening to my body and mind. Everyone starts out as a virgin and is taught to refrain from sex for a long while, until they know they're ready. I wasn't ready when you stole that innocence. Everything seems so…wrong…since I lost it. That innocence was like crutches to help me move and get used to sex and everything, and you took them from me before I was ready to walk on my own and I collapsed. Now I can't get back up. How are you supposed to stand when you feel so bad you can't accept support?"

By now, Sonic was yelling, "Well, it's damn fucking time I force myself to stand and take that support! I hate you! I still want to know why you did this to me, but I know it wasn't because I did something to deserve it! Nobody deserves to be raped like they deserve to be kidnapped or abused. The only ones who do deserve it are those that do those things! You're the ones who need to be beaten and starved. Mephiles, I may not know who you really are, but as long as you think I'm your sex toy, you're on that list. I've had enough! You may have destroyed the Sonic I once was, but now I'm destroying the one you've made me become!"

Sonic's voice quieted, and his voice was choked up, "This Sonic will be sadder, and hurt for some time, but also older and wiser. He will be part of the original Sonic and part of the Sonic you made me become, but no longer will I hurt myself or hate myself. I swear on all the stars that this will never happen to me again. Never."

"The rapes…that was your fault Wario, wasn't it? I never did anything wrong. I never could have stopped you. You threatened me. You beat me. You molested me. You raped me. I didn't do any of that stuff. It was you! This is your entire fault! It was you! Not me; you! You! You! You!"

It felt like the world had been lifted off of Sonic's shoulders. The guilt and blame that had been present for so long had vanished. Sonic dropped to his knees and began to sob harder. How could he have treated himself so lowly? He had hurt himself so many times, both physically and mentally, thinking he deserved it. He never had done anything wrong. Not a single damn thing.

Through his tears, Sonic was able to see Tails turn to the left and circle clockwise around the tree before kneeling beside the hedgehog and hugging him. Sonic was the one who saved the day and made everything better; usually nobody had to take on that role to save Sonic. Sonic was sobbing once again into a friend's shoulder, desperately needing someone to make everything better.

"Tails…how could I not see? Why was I blaming myself for so damn long? Since day one I had been wondering what I exactly did to cause this…and I only felt worse as time went on. Why did I never place all of the blame on Wario?"

"Hard to say, Sonic…I think you were just looking for a reason to explain what was happening, so when Wario offered you one you accepted it."

"If they were lying, then…why don't I feel better about myself? Why do I still feel like a slut?" Sonic sniffed and cuddled close to Tails, "I mean, not so much anymore, but I still feel dirty. How long do you think it will be before everything goes away?"

"Sonic, to tell you the truth," Tails took a deep breath, "I don't think you'll ever get better."

"What?" Sonic whispered, looking Tails in the eyes.

"I know that sounded harsh, so let me explain…this is going to haunt you and cause you pain for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about that." Tails noticed Sonic was listening to every word, so he continued, "But what you can do is learn to forget. You don't have to forgive Wario for what he's done. But you can forget. Someday I know you'll be able to put this all behind you, and you'll be able to do anything you want without thinking about this. But if somebody came flat-out and reminded you…you would be sad. Soon, I think the rapes will simply become a dull ache in your heart, and then they'll fade to nothingness. In time, this will be nothing more than a bad dream.

"But you know what? The only way that will happen is if you tie all loose ends up. You need to know why Wario raped you in the first place. And that means going back to the Base, facing all of the Brawlers there, fighting your way through wherever Wario is hiding, and then taking Wario straight on."

"Tails…could I really…?"

"You're Sonic the Hedgehog. You can do anything!"

"Not by myself, I can't…will you come with me?"

Tails laughed softly and then sang, "We can make it, if we all stick together…"

Sonic continued on, "We won't give up, not ever!"

And then together, "And everything's gonna be alright! We all bring out the best things in each other. Together we are stronger than anyone else could be on their own. Can't stop us 'cause together we are strong!"

"Ha! I remember playing that game! Oh, fun times…" Sonic laughed.

"I also recall us sitting around and cursing repeatedly because that glitch screwed the game up and we kept running somebody off of the edge…and it took us ages until we found out…"

"But you fixed it! Teamwork really is wonderful!"

Both friends laughed and hugged each other even tighter.

"Tails, you're coming with me, right? I'll never be able to go back to the Base alone!"

"Of course…I'm always there for you."

"Thanks Tails…for everything. Not just for coming, but…allowing me to see again. Maybe now I can finally start getting truly better. What you've just done for me…I can't even describe how grateful I am. You're like my own personal angel."

"There's one last thing, Sonic," Tails said while they started to walk back towards home, "Forget about trying to force yourself to stand on those crutches. If you think I'm an angel, then you're one too. Even if you've fallen, you can get back up. You just need to relearn how to fly."


	30. Fighting for a Friend

_**Alright! 100 reviews! That's pretty cool for my first fanfic. Thanks everyone!**_

_**As well, I should mention that this fanfic is almost done. I'd say no more than five chapters (including this one) left. Sad, but hey; I have to quit making Sonic suffer at some point. **_

_**Speaking of Sonic, time to see what he's up to…**_

Sonic stood in front of a full length mirror on the inside of his closet door, looking at his body. His fur helped to hide the dozens of cuts he had given himself last night, so at least those weren't showing. The last thing the Brawlers needed to know on top of everything else was that he was a cutter.

This wasn't the first time Sonic had checked himself out like this after everything had happened. But this was the first time he was looking at everything good about his body.

He had quick feet and strong legs. His hips were kind of curvy, and his chest was toned from so much exercise. His arms may look thin and weak, but were actually quite the opposite. His eyes were a brilliant green.

Sonic turned around and looked at his back. His sapphire colored fur practically glowed in the light, and his quills looked sharp and ready. He was very healthy.

Of course, there was that one point on his body…that one spot that used to overrule everything else. But since he had spoken with Tails, it wasn't that noticeable anymore. He was back to noticing his good points instead of his bad ones. Besides, it didn't hurt so much now…

"Morning, Sonic. Are you ready?" Shadow placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder. Sonic jumped slightly, for he had been looking intently at the mirror instead of what was behind him…well, in front of him.

"Shadow, you startled me!" Sonic smiled and pulled Shadow into a hug. Shadow smiled back and returned the embrace.

"Mm…you smell nice," Shadow commented.

Sonic laughed, "Just the shampoo. It's vanilla. Finally took a long shower this morning without washing multiple times…"

"Good for you! I'm glad it's really over now…" Shadow pushed Sonic slightly away so he could look at those emerald eyes, "Sonic, I don't want to be really annoying or anything, but…what are you doing about relationships?"

"What?"

Shadow sighed, "Your therapist told me that often survivors of rape can, well, jump into relationships early…you know…relying on someone for comfort in more ways than one?"

"Oh…OH! Um…I'm…I don't really know." Sonic turned to face the mirror again, and Shadow stood beside him. They looked quite alike, but in their minds, things were way off…

"Shadow, to say the least, I…I might…" Sonic sighed.

"You might what?"

"I might be in love with you," Sonic mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"Really?" Shadow asked, trying to lift Sonic's head up so he could see the blue hedgehog's reaction, "How come you're not sure?"

Sonic took a deep breath and explained the idea of him just wanting someone to love him back, and because of him only being with a guy…

"Ah, I see," Shadow said once Sonic finished, "But you're not sure what you want?"

"Right now I just want to get Wario. After that, I'm not so sure…" Sonic looked up at his reflection again, "I feel kind of lost. So many things; bad things...I'm still tainted with his…" Sonic shuddered, "Shadow, do you believe I have the right to love someone after what's happened to me?"

Shadow chuckled and turned Sonic's head towards him, "Believe me, I do."

Then he drew in the blue hedgehog for a long, passionate kiss.

XXXXXXXXX

"You were right, Nam. It was easier to write out the good stuff than it was the bad." Dr. Nam had insisted on seeing Sonic one last time before they left that morning.

"See? Your good experiences highly outweigh the bad. You met all of your friends, got into the Smash Bros. tournament, kicked butt a million times…"

"Guess I never thought about it. Still," Sonic sighed, "This is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done."

"You've got about forty companions. I'd say you're pretty safe."

"I know…I'm going all the way with this. I'll find Wario and I'll make him pay for what he's done…"

"That's the spirit! I have a couple more questions for you, Sonic, before I let you go. I'm going to summarize everything and make a report so I'll judge when I wish to see you again. I want to make sure everything will go alright."

"Fine," Sonic replied, sitting back down on the couch, "Go for it."

"The first one is about your cutting." Dr. Nam motioned to Sonic with his pen, "That got way, way out of control."

"I swear that's now out of my system. No more. Ever."

"Everything seems to be out of your system. I guess determination can override depression. Do you have any idea how you're going to cope otherwise?"

"I think bashing Wario's fucking face in ought to do the trick."

"Be serious, now. What are you going to do?"

Sonic thought for a moment, "Talk, cry, read, run…I'll just distract myself. But I won't deny my emotions anymore. If I need to cry about this, then I will. I can't let myself fall so far again."

"So you're going to be healthy about this?"

"Yes. No more cutting, overdosing, hating myself, sleeping away my problems or just denying that they're there. I can't afford to do that again."

"Good! Three more left. How do you feel about meeting all of the Smashers again?"

"Terrified."

"Why?"

"I just don't know what they think of me now; will they think I'm pathetic or something? And I wonder if they're going to treat me differently now…"

"If I were to guess anything, I'd say you're going to get your way more often because people won't want to upset you. Just don't be a spoiled brat and use that to your advantage."

"No way…as long as I don't need to anything like I did with Wario, I'm good."

"That's not going to happen to you. Anyways, I know we discussed your conversation with Tails earlier, but this is what I'm interested in hearing…you certainly went on a long time about Wario taking your virginity. Why?"

Sonic sighed, stood up and began to pace again, "I just…he always spoke of it. That's one of the things he brought up so often; about how he was the first one – and only one, I should say – to have sex with me. He thought it was so funny that he could take that from me. As for why it bothered me so much…it should have been my choice. I'm supposed to have the situation under control. Obviously, not that time. He got what he wanted…and far before I was ready…" Sonic's voice choked up, but he didn't cry, "Maybe…just…I don't know." Sonic slumped back onto the couch.

"So it was a power thing. You felt like you had control of your body, but once he raped you…you thought you were unable to protect it anymore."

"Yeah…"

"You can protect yourself now, Sonic. It'll be ok."

"I still…feel…violated…"

"You can get over this, Sonic. I know your first experiences at sex and everything were bad ones, but that doesn't mean that you should give up on the whole deal. Just don't jump right into something immediately or everything could go wrong."

"Ok…if you're sure…" Sonic sighed.

"I know it's hard to think about some type of relationship right now, but it's probably going to happen. You wouldn't _believe_ what the girls around here say about you…"

"Shut up," Sonic said jokingly, and he threw a pillow at his therapist.

"Hey!" Dr. Nam blocked it, "That's not very nice!"

"Then don't tease me!"

"Alright, alright…" Dr. Nam laughed a little before becoming sober, "This is my final question for you, Sonic, and it's by far the most important. Are you going to ever go back to the Base, or have you decided to stay home for good?"

"No! I can't stay there! I'll just…it's too awful!" Sonic buried his face in his hands.

"It's ok, Sonic. I was just asking."

"Yeah, I know…I just can't go back. There's too much pain there for me to stay."

"I understand." Dr. Nam stood up, went over to the blue hedgehog and pulled him to his feet, "Well Sonic, I must say I'm quite proud of you. You've really bounced back from one of the toughest things anybody ever has to go through. I'm sure you'll be able to move on in just a few months' time."

"Thanks, Nam. You're the best!" Sonic gave his therapist a hug.

Dr. Nam chuckled, "You've got a heart of gold, don't you?" He kneeled down to hug the blue hedgehog back, "I guess I won't be seeing you for some time. Look, regardless of whether you stay at the Base or return home I'd like you to see me once a week, just so I can make sure everything's alright with you. You'll have to travel to my office; Tails has my information so if you ever feel like a chat just call."

"Awesome; I might do that…you know what? The first time I met you, I thought I wouldn't like you."

"Really? Why not?"

"You seemed…busy. I dunno; you seemed like you wouldn't take me seriously or something, like you think kids are annoying…"

"Most kids _are_ annoying; you're just not one of them. Do you know why I became a therapist for teens, Sonic?"

"Nope. Why?"

"Because while adults treat me like I'm not really a person and I can solve all of their problems, youths often will show me what they're really like. It makes it easier for me to help them out. I'm not fond of fakers"

"I second that…but why were you cold to me the first time?"

"Something I worked on for a while…if I acted like a friend to someone's kid right away, the parents would probably sue me for child abuse."

"Yeah, they probably would…"

"Looks can be deceiving, but so many rely on that alone. We live in a world of fear…for years to come I'll be helping people back on their feet. However, this is the first time I've helped a hero. It'll make everyone I know jealous…but don't worry; not a word of what's happened will pass my lips."

"Pretty cool…and I'm glad you won't tell." Sonic went towards the door, but he stopped and turned around one last time to say, "I'm scared to do this; I never thought I'd ever go after Wario, but here I am anyways. Goodbye, Nam. And thank you."

"Remember Sonic; 'courage isn't the absence of fear. It's the presence of fear but with the will to go on.' Good luck and I'll see you next week!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Thanks for the phone, Tails. And thanks for getting Sonic to agree with you." Meta Knight hung up the phone after finishing the conversation. He had called the Base early to make sure everyone was ready by the time they arrived. It was a good thing they called Master Hand last night; otherwise he'd probably have killed them all when they returned.

"No problem. I can see why Sonic is so fond of all of you; you're so kind…"

"He's probably not so happy with us now…"

"I'm sure he will be. Come on; he should have what you're looking for by now."

The puffball and fox made their way back into the living room. Everyone except Sonic was standing by or sitting on the couch; Sonic was standing on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"So do you have any idea what Mewtwo needs?" Kirby asked once Tails and Meta Knight arrived.

Sonic nodded, and he pulled out small silver locket, "Wario had this relation with some dead girl named Shania…and he wanted something from where she died, but I don't know why. I never gave this to him…and I don't know what's inside. Maybe this is what you're looking for?" Sonic dropped the locket on the table.

Pikachu picked the necklace up and examined it, "That should work…I wonder how we can get it open?"

"Let me try something…" Tails took the locket from Pikachu and left the room. A moment later they heard buzzing sounds, and then Tails was back, "Here we are."

The fox sat down by the table and held his hand out so everyone could see. He snapped the locket open. Ten heroes gathered around the picture, and six of them gasped, "Tabuu?"

The picture showed Tabuu with his arm around a young girl's shoulders; Shania.

XXXXXXXXX

About a half hour later, they all arrived at the Base. Sonic whimpered and snuggled into Amy's shoulder, who gave the blue hedgehog a quick hug before leading him inside.

All of the Brawlers and both Hands were waiting in the foyer for their arrival. Pikachu pulled out the locket and handed it to Mewtwo, "Is this what you're looking for?"

Mewtwo took the necklace and closed his eyes. He was quiet for a few minutes, and then he whispered, "Yes…this is exactly what we need."

"But that belongs to Tabuu…are Wario and him partners?" Pikachu asked.

"Seriously?" Mewtwo snapped the locket open, "Huh, what do you know…odd. Regardless, I can get open the portal now. Who's coming?"

Every hand (and finger) immediately went into the air. Mewtwo chuckled, "Oh, well then…this is going to be hard."

"But you can do it, can't you?" Master Hand asked.

"Of course! I might need Lucario's help, but we can all go through. Let's go get Wario!"

The group went out the back door and to the clearing. Mewtwo moved forward to survey the area, and satisfied, he nodded.

"Everyone, gather around…I'm not sure how long I'll be able to hold this open…" Mewtwo closed his eyes, and the clearing went perfectly silent. The psychic Pokémon hovered in midair, and then slowly sat down, like on an invisible cushion. A purplish flame glowed around his body, and finally, a swirling ring of flames began to grow in the center of the clearing.

Mewtwo moved the locket forward using his psychokinesis, and purple flames danced around it as well. Slowly the ring of flames turned upright, like a doorway, and then a picture began to form in the center. At first, it looked simply black, but the came the outlines of the platforms and walkways that made up Subspace. Eventually, the entire thing came together, and the flames dispersed around Mewtwo and the locket when he called it back. He opened his eyes, took the locket in his hand and floated back down to the ground.

"This is it," Mewtwo said, "If you're going in, go now. I'll go last so I can close it once we're all through." Mewtwo moved beside the portal and motioned with his hand.

Mario ran forward and leaped into the portal. It looked like he was walking through a waterfall, and suddenly he was on the other side. It was like seeing the plumber through a window. Pikachu followed suit and hopped through, landing beside the other Brawler. Soon everybody had gone through, except for two certain hedgehogs and one all-powerful Pokémon.

"Take a deep breath, Sonic. You can do this…" Amy rubbed Sonic's shoulder.

"I'm so scared…so scared…" Sonic whimpered.

"I'm right beside you. Don't be afraid. Come on…" Amy slowly led Sonic took the portal, and he took a deep breath and jumped through.

XXXXXXXXX

Subspace. Most remembered this place, and the few who didn't received a quick explanation on how to kill certain Subspace monsters.

"They don't sound that tough," Shadow remarked.

"It's Tabuu who's the hard part. The rest is easy," Ness replied.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go kick some Subspace ass!" Pichu leaped off of Roy's shoulder and onto another platform. Immediately an Auroros dove down, but Pichu quickly rolled away, grabbed the bird and threw it, making it burst into a bunch of dark sparkles.

"That's new…" Pikachu shrugged, a little confused.

"Heads up! That was only the scout!" Donkey Kong pointed to an entire flock of the metal birds.

"Oh great…won't this be fun…" Falco muttered.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic had to admit, he liked the repetitiveness of these fights.

Greap up ahead. Move close, wait for it to start to bring down its sickles, roll behind it, jump up to give it a kick to the head, land, repeat until dead.

Regular Primid to the left. Punch the hell out of it. Dies easily.

Trowlon coming from behind. Try to hit it before it scoops you up. If it does, jump and kick down in order to kill it.

With so much fighting going on, you thought of nothing but destroying all enemies around you and protecting yourself and others.

Group of Bytans. Run back and forth like crazy, using a spin dash. Easy enough.

Nagagog running towards you. Don't give it a chance to grow bigger; never stop attacking.

Armights coming in from above. Dodge the swords, rush in for the kill.

It made it easier to think about your goal and not to think about why you have that goal.

The group made progress quickly through Subspace. Silent alarms seemed to be sounding, and more enemies were pouring in every minute. But they were no trouble; if everyone thought it was easy to get through Subspace before, with an extra eight helping out it made it even easier.

That is, until they got to the upgraded ones…

"What the – this Shaydas has four arms!" Samus shouted, barely dodging the four swords.

"And this Towtow's freaking horns are about three times larger than the last one I killed! And sharper, too," Marth muttered, looking at a cut in his cloak.

"Yikes! That Spaak nearly turned me into a roasted penguin!" King Dedede hopped back from the cloud monster, which sent down a strong lightning bolt right under it, turning the platform there black.

"What's going on around here?" Olimar whistled, drawing his Pikmin back, "These things aren't like last time!"

"It's seems fine," Knuckles snapped, bashing a boom Primid's face in, "Maybe now these boomerang guys have fire, electric and ice boomerangs, but it's all the same to me!"

"But this is odd; they're all stronger now! Was Tabuu planning on trying to take over the universe again?" Peach asked, whacking a R.O.B Blaster into oblivion with her frying pan.

"Possibly…after we capture Wario, we'll take him on next!" Master Hand swooped down and swept an entire troop of Primids off the edge, letting them fall into the abyss.

XXXXXXXXX

"Would you look at that…" Mephiles smiled and motioned to a monitor, "Looks like your little friends have decided to rescue you."

"Rescue me? After all I've done? They're probably here to kill me!" Wario moaned.

"Damn it Mephiles; if that angel touches Wario then he'll see everything," Tabuu snapped, moving beside the blackish hedgehog who had returned to his normal form. The three of them were in the command center, watching and leading the defense system.

"I know that! So I have an idea…keep those Brawlers busy for a minute while I take care of Wario…" Mephiles grinned at Wario and grabbed his arm. He dragged Wario out of that room, through about fifty hallways and stopped before a door.

"There you go," Mephiles said, throwing Wario inside the enormous room, "Now you stay there and be good…"

"Don't you think I'll try and escape?" Wario snapped.

"Of course," Mephiles purred, tilting Wario's chin to make the Brawler look at him, "And if you do, once those Brawlers are dealt with I'll take you to my room, if you get my drift."

"What? Oh no…" Wario's eyes went wide, "You're fucking joking. You must be."

"Well, if my plan goes accordingly then I won't need you…but hey; I miss fucking Sonic. You'll do in a pinch." Mephiles laughed and left the room; the purple door slid shut behind him. Wario pounded and pulled at the panels, but they wouldn't budge. He sighed and sat in the middle of the room; his fate depending on if the Brawlers succeeded or not.

XXXXXXXXX

The Brawlers had gone up and down stairs, left and right, fought in huge spaces and tiny hallways. The farther they got in, more enemies came after them, and stronger ones to boot.

"Die, stupid Floow…die, die, die!" Diddy Kong jumped up and shot another five peanuts. The Floow summoned its shield in time to block two of the missiles.

"Damn it! This was easier before you could do that," Diddy Kong snarled and leaped up to attack again.

"No kidding! Man, I should have killed this Glire ages ago, but since it's always on fire now I have to back up to attack it." Wolf winced when the flames hit his flesh, but he jumped back again to fire a couple more shots at the Glire. Finally, the thing burst into black flames and died.

"I'm getting tired," Captain Falcon sighed and falcon-punched another Roader off of the edge, "How many more of these things are there?"

"Too many," Lucas panted and dodged one Buckot's acid and another's boiling oil, "These things just don't quit!" A PK Thunder quickly took care of the two enemies.

"Oh great…and just when were starting to thin the ranks!" Popo pointed at one of the paths, and everyone groaned. Currently, they were fighting on a huge platform in the middle of the abyss, and there were two colorful paths on either side of it. One was the way they came; the other now contained a huge army of upgraded Subspace creatures, marching towards them.

"If this keeps going they'll drive us back! We need a plan!" Roy shouted, chopping a Ticken in two.

Amy looked back and forth, and she spotted a glowing square off to the side, "Hey Sonic, what's that?" Amy asked, poking Sonic's arm and pointing at the square.

Sonic finished off the Bombed he was fighting and followed Amy's pointing, "You're a genius! Hey everyone, there's one of those stairways! Let's get out of here!"

"Great! I'll be glad to take a break!" Kirby leaped onto the square, and the rest of the pathway flashed up. Even if the creatures' attack and defensive power had been heightened, their brain power hadn't. The Subspace creatures stood around confused on where the Brawlers had gone.

"Stupid things…at least they stayed stupid." Jigglypuff sighed and sat down.

"Good…let's relax for a bit," Meta Knight said, sheathing his sword.

"How much farther?" Pichu asked.

"Not sure…this place is huge. Wario could be anywhere," Master Hand sighed.

"I think he's up here. Look up; there's just a ceiling. I doubt this place goes up any higher, and since we started at the bottom…" Crazy Hand flipped upside down and gave his imitation of a shrug.

After a few minutes, everyone caught their breath, took out their weapons and carried on. Up here, the hallways were slightly wider than normal, but the ceiling was lower. Everything was made up out of the strange energy, so it was easy to miss something. Soon, purple sliding doors starting appearing, and they took the time to check each room. Surprisingly, most of them were empty.

"Nothing here either," Lucario sighed and the door slid shut behind him, "What's with this place?"

"Could be storage rooms or something. Let's keep looking." Zelda sent a quick flame down the hallway, but there were no enemies there.

"I guess all of the monsters received the command to attack us…and once we disappeared, we f'ed up their order," Snake said, coming back from checking out another hallway.

"The less we have to destroy, the better," Red replied, patting his Ivysaur.

Sonic, however, wasn't that happy. Now that there was nothing to do, the memories started to creep into his mind. He shivered, remembering, and then was startled to feel two hands grip his own. Link had grabbed his right hand and smiled when Sonic looked at him, while Mario held his left and winked at the hedgehog. Sonic slowly was able to calm himself down, _"It's ok, don't be scared Sonic; be brave…you can do this!"_

Multiple flashing lights caught the Brawlers' attention, and R.O.B waved at them, signaling that he had found something. The group dashed over to the robot and looked inside the room he had just opened up. It was a command center, with computers, monitors and tons of strange equipment.

"So this is how Tabuu knew where to send those monsters! There must be cameras everywhere around here," Yoshi said, looking at some of the screens, "That's it! Maybe we can use this thing to search for Wario!"

"Great idea! But who's got the talent around here to do that?" Nana asked.

"Tails does…don't you, buddy?" Sonic asked, looking at Tails with pleading eyes.

"Uh, yeah…I can do it." Tails walked over to control panel and began typing in commands. In a few minutes a map flashed up on the screen, covered with hundreds of colored dots, and one flashing room.

"Hang on…I just need to filter the monsters…there!" Most of the dots flashed off, except for three.

"Ok…here's us." Tails pointed the flashing area, "And this is the smallest force. That must be Wario." He pointed at the dot closest to their position.

"So one of those other ones is Tabuu?" Mewtwo asked. Tails nodded. "So who – or what – is the other one?"

"I don't know," Tails shrugged, "But we're after Wario first anyways. We can decide what to do later."

"Alright, I've downloaded the map. Let's get going," Snake said, leading the group out of the room.

XXXXXXXXX

"See how this will work?" Mephiles spoke to Tabuu through a communicator, "They'll most likely send half to you and half to me. With their forces divided, it will be much easier to claim our rewards."

"This plan sounds pretty fucked, Mephiles. How do you know they're going to send the right ones to us, and how do we keep them from attacking?"

"Look, we both know what we want, so grab 'em. And if all else fails, say you'll kill them if they fight."

"Fine…just shut up and get ready." Tabuu shut off his communicator and closed his eyes, _"Shania…"_

XXXXXXXXX

Wario was sitting in the middle of the huge room. This place was the size of a ballroom, but there was nothing inside – why give him such a huge prison cell?

He wondered how the Brawlers were doing. If they found him, what should he do? Try apologizing? Tell them the real story? Say he'd go with them calmly?

Plead for them not to kill him?

But Tabuu said if Pit touched him, then the angel would know everything…he needed to get Pit near him. Then, if Pit saw the truth, he could help them out. And if Sonic wanted to beat him up…that was ok. There was no denying that Sonic deserved justice, and that he deserved the beating.

Wario heard the door slide open, and he looked up and whispered, "Mephiles?"

A hedgehog walked into the room and stopped about ten feet away from Wario. His pelt was blue, his limbs shaking, and his eyes shining with fear. What had Wario done to him? The poor hedgehog seemed completely disturbed and terrified…what horrors he must have gone through…

"Sonic…oh gods, Sonic…what have I done to you…" Wario only spoke loud enough so that Sonic could hear.

"You know what you've done to me," Sonic whispered, his voice thick with anger, "And I'm here with friends this time." Silently, everyone else entered the room, although they stayed close to the wall. Everyone was ready to strike if Wario dared to put a hand on Sonic.

"They know now, Wario. I told them everything. I should have never kept it a secret – but I did, and this is what happened. You won't believe what you made me do…but that's behind me. Now, you're going to pay for everything you've done to me…all of those disgusting, horrible nightmares you put me through…you'll never feel as much pain as you've caused me, but damn it all if I can't have some revenge!" Sonic growled and shifted his stance, ready to dash and attack Wario.

Wario slowly stood up, knowing there was no point in doing anything else – he didn't stand a chance of outrunning Sonic or fighting all of the Brawlers. He looked Sonic in the eyes, and held his hands out so Sonic could see them, "You're right, Sonic – I do deserve it. So I'm not going to resist. Go ahead," Wario whispered, "Beat me, for it's what we both want."

In less than a second Sonic sprinted the few feet and punched Wario in the stomach with all of his strength. True to his word, Wario didn't retaliate and simply dropped to his knees. Sonic smashed his other fist into Wario's face, breaking his nose and causing Wario to cry out in pain.

"YOU SICK BASTARD! WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME? WHY?" Sonic continued to beat Wario, but no one made a move to stop him; not even Wario, "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME? YOU FUCKING RAPED ME! I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU!" One of his kicks made Wario roll over, and he brought his foot up and stomped on Wario's groin, "I'LL FUCKING MAKE SURE YOU NEVER HURT ANYONE THE WAY YOU HURT ME AGAIN!" There was a cracking sound, and everyone was shocked when they realized Sonic broke one of Wario's ribs.

"We have to stop Sonic or he's going to kill Wario!" Luigi gasped.

"After what he's done, does Wario even deserve to live?" Snake snapped.

"I hate to say it, but he's still a Brawler…" Master Hand sighed and then called, "Sonic, that's enough! You don't need to kill him!"

Sonic stopped his assault long enough to glare at Master Hand and reply, "I'm not going to _kill_ him…I'm only going to beat him close to death, and whatever happens after that is beyond my control." He smashed Wario's chest again, cracking more ribs.

By this point, the beating had only gone on for about five minutes, but already Wario was crying. His face was covered with blood, and his clothes were soaked with it. He was bleeding from so many spots and looked absolutely horrible, yet Sonic showed no signs of quitting and Wario made no attempts to stop the enraged hedgehog. If Sonic wanted to kill him, that probably would happen.

"Sonic, stop! Seriously, just look at him! Wario is going to bleed to death if you keep this up!" Master Hand called again, getting more than a little nervous.

Sonic looked back at the group, splattered with Wario's blood and his eyes filled with rage, "See if I fucking care! I want him to die!" He wrapped both hands around Wario's neck and started to strangle him in his anger.

In half a second Shadow crossed the room and tackled Sonic to the ground. Sonic pushed Shadow off and tried to make his way to Wario again, but Shadow grabbed Sonic's waist and pulled the blue hedgehog to his chest, "Sonic, you got what you wanted! It's over! No matter what you do, you'll never get your innocence back! You'll never see Wario again, ok? It's done! Now stop!"

The anger slowly disappeared from Sonic's eyes as Shadow spoke, and once he became calm he half whispered, half shouted, "I nearly killed him…holy cow…"

"I'm not surprised," Ganondorf snapped, walking over to Wario's bleeding form, "Hell, if you didn't do such a good job already I'd kick his ass myself!"

Wario coughed up blood as a response. He needed Pit to see…if he didn't die of blood loss before that happened…

"We need to heal him. Even after what he's done he's still under my care and I want him to have justice; not die and get away with rape…" Master Hand sighed, "Pit, Palutena taught you some healing spells, right? And Zelda, don't you know a few as well?"

"Well, yeah, a few minor ones…" Pit coughed.

"I can do a little…" Zelda shrugged.

"Can you guys heal Wario? You don't have to do anything too major – just stop the bleeding and heal his broken bones?" Master Hand asked.

Zelda slowly nodded, but Pit sighed, "Do I have to? I mean, really now…"

"For me, Pit? Please?"

"Alright…" Pit muttered. Both Brawlers walked over to Wario. Ganondorf stepped out of the way so the angel and princess could get a good look at Wario.

"_This is my chance!"_ Wario hoped he could get Pit to see.

Wario reached out to touch Pit, but the angel hissed under his breath, "Don't you dare touch me, you pervert! I wouldn't heal you if I had my own choice." So Wario pulled back.

Pit and Zelda muttered a bunch of words, and slowly Wario's major wounds began to heal. The bleeding stopped, and Wario could feel his broken fingers and ribs fall back into place.

"Wow; Sonic also dislocated Wario's shoulder. I'll set that…" Pit grabbed Wario's arm in order to shove it back into place, but a bright light stopped him from doing anything more.

XXXXXXXXX

_**Two figures, Tabuu and a strange hedgehog were sitting in the command center. **_

"_**We've taken control of Wario's mind! We've done it, Tabuu! We'll make Sonic pay!" The blackish colored hedgehog began to laugh and clap his hands.**_

"_**Good, good…now, let's get started…"**_

_**Things began to speed up. Days passed, and then everything slowed down so Pit could listen again.**_

"_**Look at that little innocent blue hedgehog. Fuck, I hate him!" The dark hedgehog pounded his hands on the control panel.**_

"_**So, this is our revenge! Put that cuff on him and he'll lose his powers forever! What are you waiting for, Mephiles?" Tabuu snapped.**_

_**Mephiles was quiet for a minute, and then he began to giggle. Soon, that giggle turned into a full-fledged laugh, "I've got it! Let's not take his powers just yet! I want to have a little fun, first…"**_

"_**Care to explain?"**_

"_**I sure will," Mephiles laughed, "I want to rip Sonic's innocence out from right under him. Let me have my way with him."**_

_**Now it was Tabuu's turn to laugh, "You want to rape Sonic? He won't let you do that!"**_

"_**Of course he will," Mephiles chuckled, "You see, I'll tell him if he lets me fuck him he can keep his powers. I'll throw on the cuff so he can see I'm not joking, and then I'll give him a good fucking. After that, we can either leave it on or take if off…but come on! Imagine how much it will hurt him if we rape him…"**_

_**Tabuu thought for a minute, and then nodded, "Alright, go ahead."**_

_**Mephiles smiled and turned back to the control panel. He appeared to be speaking into a microphone, making Wario speak. Soon, however, he was moaning, "Oh yes, ah…so nice! Gods, yes…oh, yes! Fuck…he feels so good…such a nice little virgin…" **_

_**Mephiles' moans and cries of pleasure went on for some time. Afterwards, he turned back to Tabuu, panting and covered with his own semen, "By the gods, Tabuu, we have to go through with this! Let's tell Sonic that he needs to keep what happened to him a secret, and he needs to let us fuck him every night. If he refuses our orders, it's bye-bye powers…"**_

"_**Was it that good?"**_

"_**Damn; he had the tightest, silkiest hole I've ever been in…and that's saying something, considering I don't fuck guys much…" Mephiles laughed, "Tabuu, we can't miss this opportunity! Let's keep Wario under our control! I have just taken Sonic the Hedgehog's virginity; that's something many thought he didn't even have! He's young, and he's male, so he can't get pregnant. He's perfect!"**_

"_**Seriously, what's so good about this?"**_

"_**Come on! He's so tight that my first thrust barely penetrated his entrance. But once you finally get inside…gods…" Mephiles shook his head, "You have to experience it to understand. Let's keep doing this."**_

_**Tabuu sighed, "Alright, I trust your judgment. After all, we are partners…"**_

"_**Excellent!" Mephiles jumped up, "I'm going to make a few more adjustments to the cuff! I want to feel even more next time…" He left the room.**_

_**Tabuu turned back to the screen, "But I wonder…if we keep Wario under our mind control for too long, will he be able to break free of it?" Tabuu sighed again, and then followed Mephiles out.**_

XXXXXXXXX

"What the fuck did I just see?" Pit gasped, backing away from Wario.

"The truth, Pit…you saw the truth…" Wario coughed.

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked.

"Just…just touch him! You'll see what I mean!" Pit pointed at Wario.

Ganondorf walked forward and placed a hand on Wario's foot. His eyes gained a glossy look, and a few minutes later he gasped and backed away, "What the fuck? Who the hell is Mephiles? What's going on here?"

The other Brawlers, now interested, came forward to see for themselves. Once everyone saw the flashback, Sonic asked Wario, "What was that?"

"Sonic…I know this sounds crazy, but listen…Tabuu was angry at you because you contributed to the death of his niece, Shania. He met up with Mephiles, who also hates you for some reason, and together they planned to take away your powers for good, as revenge. They took over my mind so they could get into the Base and put the cuff on you. But then, along the way, well…they decided to rape you." Wario closed his eyes, "I'm sorry, Sonic. If I was stronger, none of this would have happened…"

"You mean…fuck, did I just beat you up while the whole time you were being controlled by those two freaks and had nothing to do with it yourself?" Sonic blinked in shock.

"Well, yeah…"

"I'm sorry, Wario. But…why the hell didn't you say anything before?"

"Fuck, would you have believed me? That story sounds like bull!"

"Yeah, I guess not…"

"But why did I see it when Sonic and Zelda didn't?" Pit asked.

"The cuff contains so much power in order to let people see…and because you touched it often enough, it spilled the information onto you. And I guess that led so everyone else could see…"

"Ok, I'm confused. Start explaining now," Master Hand snapped.

"Could I have some water first, please? I taste blood…"

"Sure…anyone have a glass?" Red asked.

"I have this bottle," Link replied, handing it to the Pokémon trainer.

"Thanks." Squirtle filled the bottle up, and Red handed it to Wario.

Wario took a long drink and then began to explain, only pausing to drink some more water. Once he finished, Sonic asked, "Why didn't you protect yourself when I attacked you, Wario? Couldn't you have done something?"

"Sonic, Tabuu told me there was a possibility that I could have broken free. If I was stronger, you wouldn't have had to endure that. After what I've done to you, I did deserve the beating. Besides, you needed to do that to feel better. Thanks for healing me, Zelda and Pit."

"I'll do a little more…even it makes me tired…" Pit was about to cast when Zelda stopped him.

"No Pit; I have a few healing potions. Save your energy." She handed one to Wario, who quickly drunk the entire bottle.

"Now what?" Peach asked.

"Simple…we find both of these freaks and make them pay!" Knuckles turned to Snake, "Can you track them?"

"Of course! This way, everyone…" Snake checked the map, and everyone followed him out, although Wario did so a bit more slowly.

Eventually, the group came to a spot where there were two paths; one went to where Tabuu was stationed and the other to where Mephiles was.

"You know, maybe we should split up. I mean, we kicked Tabuu's ass before, and it wasn't that hard," Bowser said.

"He's stronger now. We'll need all the help we can get," Wario coughed.

"But what about Mephiles? If we split, they won't come together to fight. If fighting one boss is hard, imagine two at once!" Donkey Kong spoke up.

That idea made everyone think twice. Taking on one Hand alone was easy, but when they worked together…dying three or four times was common for the Brawlers.

"Ok, point taken. Besides, especially with Sonic here, if they're together…" Pichu shuddered.

"Then we go to Tabuu. Mephiles is the bigger pervert anyways," Shadow said, grabbing Sonic's hand.

Everyone nodded and quickly split into two groups. Snake downloaded the map to Fox's communicator so he could lead the group to Tabuu's spot. With quick high-fives and 'good lucks', the team split and went their separate ways, promising to meet at this exact point once they were through.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic began to shake as they got closer to Tabuu's lair. He was terrified of what might happen to him, now that Tabuu would have a chance to rape him in person…

"It's ok, Sonic. We won't let any harm come to you," Roy said, placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"You…you guys don't have a clue what they really did to me. They…they…" Sonic whimpered and snuggled into Shadow's shoulder.

"We stand by you…don't worry," Mewtwo whispered, patting Sonic's head, "Besides, Master Hand's here, and he'd do anything for you."

"I'd do everything for any of you," Master Hand replied, "If all else fails, I'll hold Tabuu back while the rest of you run. There's no way I'll ever let any of you be harmed…"

Fox suddenly stopped at a tall, purple doorway that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, "This is it, everyone. Are you ready?"

Everyone nodded, and then turned to face Sonic. Sonic looked at the door, and then slowly nodded. "Ready," he gulped.

XXXXXXXXX

Snake moved towards the wall, peered around the corner, and then motioned for the others to follow. The group going after Mephiles followed Snake as he led them to the boss' lair.

"I have no idea what this guy is like…he hates me? I've never heard of him!" Knuckles snapped.

"Are you guys sure you don't remember Mephiles?" Wario asked.

"Seriously; I'm sure we would have remembered that guy…" Tails shrugged.

"Quiet, everyone! We're here." Right around a sharp corner was a tall, purple doorway, "Be on your guard. We don't have a clue what this guy is like…" Snake moved to the door, "Ready?"

"Let's do this!" Meta Knight shouted, drawing his sword.

XXXXXXXXX

"Tabuu!" The cloaked figure standing in the center of the platform turned around. There was one long pathway from the door to the large circular platform, but otherwise the rest was just pure, endless energy.

"How nice to see you all again! Especially you, Sonic…or should I say, little angel." Tabuu laughed when Sonic whimpered and moved closer to Amy and Shadow.

"You sick fuck! You're going to pay!" Red growled, motioning to Charizard, "Come on; use Rock Smash!"

Charizard flew at top speed towards his opponent, and before Tabuu could react a huge rock was smashed into his face.

Tabuu sputtered and moved back, far away from the Brawlers, "Well then; if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" He threw off his cloak and flew into the air on his broken wings, while the Brawlers got ready to fight.

XXXXXXXXX

"So you're Mephiles," Knuckles growled; hands clenching into fists. The dark hedgehog laughed.

"Oh, yes I am…and here are Knuckles and Tails; we meet again! As for the rest of you, this is the first time…"

"And it's going to be the only time," Ness snapped, summoning a flame to his fingertips, "Can you fight, or can you only hide behind technology?"

"Ha! Believe me, boy…I can fight!" The room this group was fighting in was the same design as Tabuu's; a long pathway that led to a single huge, circular arena. Mephiles moved to the back of the circle, near the edge, and shot a fireball at the group.

It was big, but easy to dodge for a group that was used to fighting. "Did you two see that?" Mephiles asked, pointing at Tails and Knuckles, "I gave myself a few upgrades, too!" Another fireball was shot in their direction.

"This guy means business!" Knuckles shouted, rolling out of the way.

"Well, so do we!" Pikachu growled and sent a thunderbolt at Mephiles. Mephiles summoned an energy shield, but it easily cracked under Pikachu's intense bolt.

"Ha! Eat electricity, bitch!" Pikachu shot another bolt at Mephiles and hit him dead on.

"You're not so tough!" Ness shouted, sending a PK Flash Mephiles' way. Mephiles was still recovering from Pikachu's thunderbolt and was hit by the flash.

"Let me have a chance," DK grinned and slammed a fist into Mephiles' face. He crumpled into the ground.

The Ice Climbers came up next, and in perfect synchronization hit the dark hedgehog at the same time with their hammers and sent him flying across the room.

Mephiles rolled with the blow and stood up, but before he could counter Ike brought Ragnell around and got a clear hit on the hedgehog's arm, while Meta Knight swung Galaxia and slashed the back of his knee. When Mephiles clutched his arm in pain and dropped to one knee, Knuckles came up from behind and hit the back of the hedgehog's head, sending him towards the eastern edge of the platform.

King Dedede was waiting for him, and slammed his hammer onto Mephiles' back. Ganondorf attacked with a low kick, sending Mephiles towards the exit.

Mephiles now seemed to realize he was in trouble, so he tried to back onto the pathway, so he only had to watch one side. Lucario and Pit had quickly moved to the pathway to attack from behind, and Mephiles was forced back onto the main area by Lucario's aura sphere and Pit's light arrows.

Once Mephiles took a couple steps back, Captain Falcon hit him with a Falcon Punch, knocking him into Crazy Hand's open palm. The Hand threw him into the center of the stage. There Luigi fired a couple fireballs at him, while Wolf shot him with a few blaster shots. Yoshi rolled over Mephiles with his Egg Roll ability, and afterwards Olimar had his Pikmin attack. After a few moments he called them back, and with Mephiles groaning in pain Snake threw a grenade at him.

The blast shook the platform, but the fighters were unfazed. After it was over, Mephiles moaned again. Tails and Wario walked up for the final hits.

"This is for blaming me!" Wario shouted, punching Mephiles' groin with all of his strength.

"And this is for Sonic!" Tails snapped, slamming his foot onto Mephiles' head.

Mephiles continued to moan, but the fight was over. There was no way he could even stand up after that beating.

"Well, that was over sooner than I would have liked, but hey; we got him good," Pikachu sighed, running over to the others at the beginning of the pathway.

"At least we all got to strike him," Captain Falcon shrugged, "I'm pretty content right now. Shall we go?"

"Might as well. That Mephiles guy won't be fighting again for a long while…" King Dedede was about to turn and leave, but he saw something in the corner of his eye, "Hey, what's that?"

A strange, blue ball of light had suddenly appeared thirty meters above Mephiles.

"I'll go see," Pit said, spreading his wings and taking flight. Once he got to the ball, he hovered in midair to look at it, "Hey, there's something in here! I think it's writing!"

"What does it say?" Yoshi called.

"It says…it says…'I have you now.' What the...?"

"I do have you now!" Mephiles shouted, jumping the thirty meters easily and wrapping his arms around Pit's waist and arms, holding the angel captive.

"Hey! Let me go!" Pit snarled and kicked, immediately recognizing the hold…this was the same way that figure held Pit in the shower.

"Why you son of a –" Lucario began to charge up an aura sphere.

Mephiles laughed, "If you attack me, the angel dies. Drop your weapons!"

"Do you mean that literally, or can we just not bring them out?" Meta Knight called back.

"Don't be such a smart ass! Stop powering up, or I'll slash the angel's throat," Mephiles snapped and held a blade to Pit's neck. Why was all of this so familiar?

Everyone stopped readying an attack, but was still on their guard.

"You weren't really hurt, were you? You tricked us!" Knuckles growled.

Mephiles shifted Pit slightly, still hovering in the air, "Damn right I did! It was all a ploy! I was just waiting for all of you to think you won so I could grab the angel…and now that I have him…oh, the fun we shall have…"

"No! What do you want with me?" Pit continued to struggle.

"I'll explain soon, Cupid," Mephiles whispered into Pit's ear, and then he called down to the others below, "I'll give you guys a chance to reclaim Pit. All you have to do is beat my army…" Mephiles laughed, and suddenly millions of shadow bugs began raining down from the ceiling. The quickly took the forms of the upgraded Subspace monsters. The door the Brawlers had come into disappeared, and another one appeared on the opposite side of the room. The pathway rotated around and matched up with the new door.

The way to freedom was now blocked by monsters. They were all trapped.

"I'll be waiting with the angel on the other side. Good luck to you all…you'll need it." Mephiles laughed and began to float backwards towards the doorway.

"No, Pit!" Ike called.

But it was too late. Mephiles and Pit were gone.

XXXXXXXXX

"No…let me go!" Pit struggled, trying to twist free of Mephiles' grip. Mephiles had quickly morphed into his human form – so Pit's theory was correct; the figure and the hedgehog were the same guy – grabbed Pit's arm and then began to drag the angel through more of Subspace. Pit tried to escape, but Mephiles simply gripped harder, twisting Pit's arm and pulling him along.

"Where are you taking me?" Pit asked, stumbling.

"You'll see," Mephiles grinned, and he continued to drag the angel. Even if Pit hit Mephiles, he did not seem to feel pain. Nothing the angel tried made Mephiles even flinch.

"Ah, here we are," Mephiles sighed, ignoring the punch Pit had just dealt to his cheek. He dragged Pit inside, and the door shut behind him. The lights came on, and now Pit could see the one piece of furniture in the room: a bed.

"You're not going to…you just can't…" Pit whispered.

"Oh, but I can and I will," Mephiles snapped, throwing Pit against the bed. The angel hit the end and slumped onto the ground, while Mephiles started to laugh again, "Ah, Pit; pretty little Pit…I bet you're wondering why you're here."

"You're going to rape me," Pit whispered.

"Oh, 'rape' is so harsh of a word…how about 'fuck' as in, 'I'm going to fuck you'," Mephiles chuckled.

"Why me?" Pit whispered, "Why?"

"Don't you understand why _you_ figured everything out, angel? Why you were the one to hear the argument? Why you were the one who figured out the poison? Why you were the one who was able to speak to Sonic the most often? Why you were the one present in the kitchen when Sonic had his breakdown? Why you were the one who found those notes; the one under Sonic's bed and the one in the toaster? Why you were attacked in the shower and received that strange message? Why you were the one who first saw the cuff and had those little flashbacks and nightmares? Why you were the first one to see the truth?"

Pit shook his head, and Mephiles laughed, "Fool! _I made sure_ you'd be the one most involved because I want you! From the first time I saw you through Wario's eyes, I decided that somehow I would make you mine…and when I found out you guys were coming here, I convinced Tabuu to make a new plan. He's going to take Sonic and make that hedgehog his sex slave, while I can have you."

"What? You wanted me to get involved in all of this? You wanted us to come here?"

"Of course! Tabuu likes messing around with Sonic, but it's no fun to share. So I shall have you as my toy," Mephiles laughed and hauled Pit to his feet, "Although I'll go back to Sonic once in awhile. But right now, I have you…"

"No! I won't let you take me! Leave me alone!" Pit tried to push Mephiles away, but he refused to budge.

"Oh, I don't think so, Cupid…do you see this?" Mephiles pulled a small remote control with a single button in the center out from his cloak, "You see, if I press this button right here, every single monster in Subspace will go after the group I trapped in that room. We wanted you guys to succeed to a point; you weren't fighting even a hundredth of our forces! Your friends will be overrun, and they will all die…"

"No," Pit whispered, "No!"

"Your friends shall perish unless you strip naked and submit to me…forever." Mephiles took a step back and waved the remote, "So what's it going to be, Cupid? What's it going to be?"


	31. Ending the Nightmare

"Come on now, Cupid…" Mephiles cooed, "You don't have a choice here…"

Pit gulped and looked at Mephiles, the remote, and then the door. Could he possibly snatch the remote and run?

As if. Even though they had beaten him up pretty badly before, Mephiles hadn't suffered a scratch.

"Tick tock, Pit. Time's running out here…" Mephiles threw the remote lightly in the air and caught it, "I'm waiting…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!" Ivysaur fired a flurry of leaves at Tabuu, who managed to dodge a number of them while floating.

Tabuu retaliated by throwing a long, golden chain trying to grab the Pokémon. Marth stepped in and knocked the chain aside with his sword before jumping up and striking Tabuu's wings.

"Got you!" Marth shouted, landing.

Tabuu snarled, charged up a quick energy ball and then fired it at the swordsman. Falco kicked his reflector in front of Marth, blocking the move and sending it back at Tabuu.

Mewtwo had powered up his own shadow ball and shot it at Tabuu at the same time Falco reflected the other one. Both collided with the boss, and he fell to the ground, cursing.

Link stepped in and struck Tabuu with his sword, while Roy came from the side to attack as well. Tabuu countered with his own energy sword instead of watching what was going on behind him…

Samus shot her charge shot at Tabuu, getting a clean hit between his wings. Link and Roy jumped out of the way as Tabuu fell to his knees. Bowser rammed Tabuu in the chest, knocking him back towards the edge.

"We're doing pretty well," Shadow panted, taking a quick break from the fight. He turned around, "Sonic, what are you doing?"

"Hiding behind you because I'm freaked. What does it look like?" Sonic replied.

"Oh come on; we're kicking butt! Get out there and show him what you're made of!" Shadow grabbed Sonic's hand and rushed into the fray.

Already Fox and Diddy Kong had each gotten a couple shots at Tabuu, but now Tabuu had finally gained his footing back and was hovering above the group. Pichu dodged Tabuu's pinpoint explosions, dashed underneath and used Thunder, zapping the boss and stunning him long enough for Charizard to fly up and hit the boss with another Rock Smash.

"You have all gained much strength since we last fought…or perhaps I have lost some?" Tabuu growled and launched himself at Sonic, but Master Hand came in and swatted Tabuu away.

Peach and Mario were waiting for Tabuu when he landed, and they each got a couple of strikes in before Tabuu was air born once again, "Fuck, you guys are annoying!" He shot out a Bullet Rain, which hit a few Brawlers but they were able to get out of the way before the finishing energy blast.

Shadow pulled Sonic closer to where the main fight was going on and shouted, "Hey guys, push him over here!"

R.O.B immediately reacted and fired his laser beams at Tabuu, while Zelda attacked with her Din's fire. Lucas shot a few PK thunders, and Squirtle used Water Gun.

Shadow then let go of Sonic's hand and ran in front of the boss. He nodded to Kirby and Amy, and as one they jumped up, slammed Tabuu with their hammers and feet, and sent the boss Sonic's way.

"Sonic, finish him off! Come on!" Kirby called.

Sonic gulped, but then rolled into a ball and began charging up a Spin Dash. Once Tabuu was close enough, he went ahead and attacked. He hit Tabuu in the middle of his back, but then slightly rolled off to the side and completely shattered his right wing.

Once Sonic landed he didn't bother to turn around and see what damage he had done; he just dashed over to the others and went behind them so Tabuu wouldn't kill him. Once he finally looked and saw the damage, his mouth opened in shock, "Oh man…he's not going to be able to fly anymore, is he?"

"You're fucking right about that, hedgehog," Tabuu snarled and slowly stood up, "But if you think I'm through with you, think again!" He shot an energy boomerang, nearly knocking a few Brawlers off of the platform. Tabuu was filled with so much anger; he wasn't going down easily.

His attacks may be stronger, but hopefully when his rage took over he'd make more mistakes.

XXXXXXXXX

"I wouldn't hesitate any longer, Cupid…" Mephiles slowly walked to one side of the room and waved his hand, "Your friends are already having a tough time." A screen appeared on the wall, and it showed the Brawlers fighting off Mephiles' army. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes since Pit was gone, but already they looked tired and were losing ground. Pikachu's electric bolts weren't lasting half as long as they did before, nor were they reaching the same distance. King Dedede was swinging his hammer slower, although he was still hitting a huge amount of the monsters. Wolf had already been overrun and resorted to slashing at the enemies with his claws, while Meta Knight desperately tried to cut a path through so he could help Wolf out.

There were so many enemies, and if Pit refused Mephiles and the hedgehog sent out more…they could die...his friends could die.

"Damn right they will die," Mephiles chuckled, and Pit jumped in shock, "I only care about you, Cupid. Not the rest. Although…maybe if you go, I'll take the echidna or the little fox. Or perhaps one of those Ice Climbers…maybe even the swordsman, Ike?"

"Leave them out of this!" Pit growled and tried to summon his bow, "Don't you dare put your hands on them!"

"I'm not going to put my hands on any of them…only you."

Pit gave up trying to gain his weapon; this room seemed to prevent such things, "If…if I submit to you, will you let them go?"

"Of course," Mephiles replied.

"And they leave unharmed and unbothered?"

"Yes, yes of course…" Mephiles sighed, "You sure are demanding."

"Then let them go right now, and I'll…and…" Pit gulped.

"You'll let me have you?"

"Yes…"

"No fighting or anything?"

"No…"

"Alright…" Mephiles snapped his fingers, and the monsters at the back began to retreat, "Then strip down and let's get this started." He waved his hand, and the screen disappeared. He snapped his fingers again, "Come on Cupid, let me see your body…for real this time."

Pit slowly reached down and began to unlace his sandals. All he had to do was stall for a bit of time, and perhaps the Brawlers could find him. Lucario had telepathically contacted him and said they were trying…

Little did Pit know, Mephiles had actually tricked him. The monsters at the back had left, but soon returned with even more at their heels.

Mephiles was going to make sure those Brawlers didn't have a chance to save the angel.

XXXXXXXXX

Tabuu had so much rage inside; all he did was attack, no longer caring about the pain. He shot his dark cannon and hit both Mario and Falco, ignoring Link who had just slashed his left wing.

That hedgehog was going to pay…he was going to rape that hedgehog for real this time, and there wouldn't be any mercy.

"He just doesn't quit, no matter how often we hit him!" Mewtwo panted. He charged up another shadow ball and hit Tabuu, but the boss didn't seem to care. He snatched Mewtwo up in golden brackets and slammed the Pokémon onto the platform.

"Sonic! You're going to pay for what you've done!" Tabuu sent out a golden chain to try and grab the blue hedgehog, but Shadow jumped in and intercepted it. The black hedgehog was flung off the platform, but Kirby quickly flew down, grabbed him and brought him back onstage.

"Thanks," Shadow sighed, "What are we going to do? Suddenly, nothing's working!"

"I know! We need a plan," Kirby replied, "I wonder if there is any possible way to break his legs?"

"I doubt it!"

"Ok, um…I'm not sure…oh shit!" Kirby and Shadow were sent flying when Tabuu struck them both with his boomerang.

"Ow…being hit sucks…" Shadow moaned, standing up and running back into the fray.

XXXXXXXXX

"You know, usually I'd rather jump right to it…but seeing you strip slowly is more exciting…" Mephiles looked up and down, and then grinned. Pit shuddered under his gaze; the only clothing he was still wearing was his tank top and shorts.

"Come on, Cupid…not much more…"

Pit gulped and then began to pull his top over his head, _"Meta Knight, Ike, Pikachu…where are you guys?" _

XXXXXXXXX

"Sorry guys, but I need to sit out. I'm bleeding too badly…" Fox bit his lip to stifle a cry of pain. Tabuu had broken his right arm and wounded it badly; his sleeve was already coated with blood and more was pouring out of the cut despite the improvised bandage Falco had tied around his arm.

"It's the best I can do, Fox. You need a doctor…" Falco's eyes became extremely worried. He wasn't sure how bad the wound actually was, but he couldn't let one of his best friends bleed to death!

"Zelda, we need you over here!" Falco called, and the princess rushed over.

She opened up a bottle, "It's not enough to heal your arm, but it will stop the bleeding…"

"Alright," Fox whimpered, taking the final drops of the healing potion. The pain in his arm became a dull throb, and the wound closed up.

"We're in deep trouble. I'm running out of potions…" Zelda looked back at the fight. Tabuu wasn't anywhere close to giving in; soon somebody was sure to be seriously injured…

XXXXXXXXX

"There's too many! We won't be able to hold them back much longer!" Captain Falcon shouted, punching another Towtow in the face.

"Where is everyone else? Are they still fighting Tabuu?" Nana asked, slamming another Fire Primid aside, trying to get back to Popo.

"I think so. We need to stay together; above all, don't get separated!" Meta Knight pulled Wolf back to the main group, and now the two were against a huge Autolance.

"If only we could fly across the field, our problem would be solved. But these damn Buckots keep pushing us back!" Tails landed and swatted the Buckot away after yet another attempt to fly across.

"I just hope Pit's ok…I hope he hasn't been raped…" Ike stepped forward and slashed a Primid in two, but immediately another three took its place.

"I sent him a telepathic message saying we're trying to get to him. He just needs to stall…" Lucario blasted another few enemies to smithereens.

XXXXXXXXX

He had stalled for as long as he could, but it wasn't enough. Pit was now naked, and Mephiles was enjoying the view. Such a perfect little body…how fun it would be to mark.

The angel was shivering; whether out of fear or because he was cold, Mephiles wasn't entirely sure. It was cool in the room, but must be even colder with no clothes on.

"Oh yeah, Cupid…you look very lovely. I like this." Mephiles stroked Pit's cheek, "You're shivering, Cupid. Is something wrong?"

"What do you think is wrong?" Pit hissed, "I'm about to be raped by a fucking pedophile…of course there's something wrong!"

Mephiles chuckled, "Don't worry, Cupid…if you're cold, you'll feel the warmth of a blanket soon enough…" He walked over to the bed and pulled a trunk out from underneath, "You know, since this is going to be your first time, perhaps you'd like this sex to be more…kinky?" Mephiles reached into the trunk and pulled out a pair of red heart-shaped handcuffs, "Because I know I'd like it to be."

XXXXXXXXX

"They're hurt because of me!" Sonic whimpered, "They could die because of me!"

Tabuu was completely focused on destroying every last Brawler, no longer caring about himself. The Brawlers were hurt, and badly…currently Master Hand was crushing Tabuu in his grip, but Tabuu's laser eyes were already giving the Hand major burns on his fingers.

The Brawlers, who had little precious time, were quickly making temporary bandages and lapping up what few healing potions Zelda had left. But they were all exhausted and wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

Sonic wasn't too badly damaged, mainly because Tabuu was always trying to grab him and shouting that he would rape Sonic once he got a hold of the hedgehog…which basically resulted in Sonic running away and everyone else taking the hits for him.

Tabuu wanted him…the boss didn't care about the others; he just wanted him…if he gave himself up, the others should be ok…

Master Hand simply couldn't take it anymore; he let go of Tabuu and shook his fingers, trying to get rid of the stinging pain.

Sonic saw the deep wounds on Master Hand, glanced around at everyone else and made his decision. He couldn't let anyone else get hurt. It was enough.

"Hey Tabuu! Over here!" Sonic was on the other side of the platform, away from everyone else, and Tabuu swirled around, trying to spot him.

"There you are, hedgehog! I'll get you this time!" Tabuu started making his way over to Sonic, and blasted everyone else back with a shockwave.

Sonic gulped but stood his ground, unintentionally stepping back while Tabuu approached.

"Leave Sonic alone!" Amy shouted, but she had twisted her ankle and could no longer stand.

It wasn't long before Tabuu reached Sonic and snatched the hedgehog up in one hand, "I have you now!" Tabuu turned back to the other Brawlers, holding Sonic in the air like a trophy, "You all tried so hard to protect him, but he just gave up! Looks like I broke his fucking will!"

"You didn't, Tabuu. This is part of my plan…I have something for you."

Tabuu brought Sonic back down and glared at him, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah…you remember Shania, right?"

Tabuu's red eyes gained a far away look for a moment, but soon they became angry again, "I do! And you killed her!"

"So you raped me? That was how you dealt with your loss?" Sonic was working extremely hard to keep his voice calm. If he panicked now, he could be taken away and raped again.

From the look on Tabuu's face, Sonic knew he had guessed right. "Shut up! Fuck it, I'm going to rape you right now, with all of your friends watching!" Tabuu moved his hand up slightly so Sonic's lower half was exposed, and he began to rub the hedgehog's backside, "You're going to scream so loudly everyone in Subspace will hear you!"

"No! Let him go!" Master Hand finally gained enough bearings in order to float again, but another shockwave knocked everyone down, and many were simply too exhausted to stand.

"Well, I've got a question for you, before you…you know…" Sonic wished with all of his heart that this would work, "Back in the forest, why did you ask if I found something of Shania's? Why did it matter?"

Tabuu's grip loosened slightly, and his voice softened, "If I could get something of hers, I could make a Subspace carbon copy…at least I'd have one person I loved back…" Tabuu sniffed, and his voice was choked, "I couldn't find anything else that remained of my family; she was my last hope…" His voice was so sorrowful that if everyone in the room didn't hate him so much, they'd comfort him.

"What if I did have something of hers?"

"You do?" Tabuu asked.

"Perhaps…but on a few conditions."

"What?"

"Number one; you let us all go. Number two; you heal everyone here. And number three; you leave all of us alone forever. And no raping me." Sonic looked at Tabuu, hoping that this would work.

XXXXXXXXX

If Pit wasn't so scared, he would be ashamed of himself.

He was kneeling, hands and feet cuffed together with those odd heart-shaped handcuffs behind his back. His head was down and his eyes shut, not wanting to see what device Mephiles planned on using next…well, that and Mephiles was naked, and he really didn't want to see that either!

"You know, Cupid, I really wish I could have done this with Sonic…but, you know, didn't plan everything out at the time. Too bad." Pit felt something being run down between his wings, and ignored Mephiles' words to try and figure out what it was.

Pit felt a stinging slap, and then realized Mephiles must be holding a whip or a belt…something of the sort.

"_Goddess, this feels so wrong…I'm so scared right now…please, someone save me! Please!" _Pit winced when the device hit flesh again.

"I admit; you did try very hard to get away. Quite a number of cuts you dealt me…gave me a nasty black eye to boot. But, this place is tuned to my will; designed to give me an advantage. And I do love having the advantage here…" Mephiles cracked the whip against Pit's back again and again, "It's more fun when they try to resist in bed…they're more feisty that way."

"Wha-what's wrong with you? Why do you want me?" Mephiles forced Pit took look up at him.

"Oh, Cupid…I want you because you're beautiful…and being a virgin helps too. I like having a little sex slave wherever I go…gives me something to do on those long, boring nights."

Pit watched as Mephiles went back to the trunk and dropped the whip in. "You know, Cupid, I'm not completely sure what I should do with you…possibly some more beatings; touching, bondage…or maybe we should get right to the fucking."

Mephiles came over with a package of cards and began to lay them on the floor, "You know that I love games, Cupid, so let's play a game. Pick a card, any card…which one you choose will determine what we do next."

"_Anything but sex, please anything but anal sex…" _"Uh…I choose…that one. Second row, second on my left."

"Ah…" Mephiles picked it up, "Fingering it is, then."

"W-wait…am…am I –?"

"Oh no no no, Cupid…I'm doing all of these to you." Mephiles threw the card off to the side and then reached under Pit's arms to pick the angel up. Mephiles then turned Pit around and bent him over the bed so his feet could still touch the ground. He then unlocked Pit's feet before running his hands up Pit's legs to his rear, "I'm the dominant one, Pit. I'm the one who gets to have fun…" He rubbed his finger inside of Pit's rear, and then began to slowly push it in…

XXXXXXXXX

"What object do you have? How do I know you are not lying?" Tabuu glared at Sonic, but the hedgehog could tell he had Tabuu's interest.

"I won't tell you anything more until you agree with my demands," Sonic replied.

"I agree."

"Then heal my friends."

Tabuu snarled, "Fine, but if you don't give me the object afterwards, I'm going to rape you."

"You can have it after you heal everyone."

Tabuu closed his eyes, and his remaining wing began to glow. A bright light appeared above everyone's head, and then curled around their bodies, healing them.

"Done. Now give it to me!"

"I need an arm, thank you very much." Tabuu released Sonic's arms but still gripped the hedgehog's waist. "I think this must be what you're looking for…" Sonic pulled the locket out from his glove and held it out to the boss.

Tabuu's eyes went wide from recognition, and he slowly took the locket from Sonic, "Where did you get this?"

"I found it in the clearing, where that house once stood…I was too nervous to give it to Wario before."

Tabuu slowly put Sonic on the ground and examined the necklace, "Yes, this is it. I need this…I can bring Shania back!"

"So, are you going to let us go?" _"Come on, please work; this is all I've got here!"_

"Hmph…you'll have to find the way out yourselves. I'll teleport all of you to where the rest of the group is and you can make you way out from there. They're healed now too. Good luck…"

A bright flash, and then Tabuu was left alone on the platform. He held the necklace up to the light, "Finally, after so long, I can see you again…" A door appeared, the pathway moved over, and he walked away.

XXXXXXXXX

"What the fuck? What's going on here?" Master Hand shouted when the group suddenly appeared in the middle of a battle. Luckily they were placed just in front of the original group, pushing the Subspace monsters back.

"Mephiles…tricked us and…took Pit away…" Tails panted, "Can't get to…other side to…rescue him…" He swished his tails to the side and killed a bunch of Mites.

"What? Mephiles has Pit?" Marth gasped.

"We're trying…to get to him…no luck yet…" Donkey Kong punched another Nagagog into oblivion.

"And…it'd be nice…if you guys helped," Meta Knight snapped, slashing another two Primids in quarters.

Nobody had an option but to join in the fight. There were so many enemies that you had to attack. But would they ever be able to make it to the other side in time?

XXXXXXXXX

"This is so much fun, Cupid…you certainly pick the most interesting ones." Pit winced when Mephiles read the card off as being, 'bondage'. At least he hadn't been raped…yet.

Mephiles tied Pit's hands and feet together with a red cord, and the gagged him with a piece of red silk. Then he began to rub Pit's body…especially near his private areas.

Pit bit the silk when Mephiles began to rub right between his legs. He tried to wriggle away, but Mephiles held him down, "Cupid, if Sonic could take this, you can too. Just relax…"

"_Relax? I can't fucking relax with you doing these things to me and me thinking about Sonic going through this! Just how many things did Sonic have to do? Poor little guy…"_

XXXXXXXXX

"_So much for being free,"_ Sonic bitterly thought as he smashed his fist into a Metal Primid. These things took about a million hits and hitting them with a fist hurt…

Charizard flew slightly above the Metal Primid group and used Flamethrower. The move quickly destroyed the mob, but Charizard was heavily damaged from the Buckots up above.

"This will never work…what does Mephiles want with Pit anyways?" Sonic asked.

"He's going to rape Pit…if that sick fuck hasn't done so already…" Red sighed, "It's probably too late for Pit now, but we need to get him out of there…"

Time seemed to stop for Sonic once he heard that. Memories flashed in front of his eyes.

Being raped for the first time. Lying about the rapes for the first time. Starving because he couldn't swallow. That storm, and the psychiatrist meeting after. Meeting the ghost girl. Being beaten and humiliated by 'Wario'. Having his mental breakdown. Cutting himself.

Nearly killing himself.

"_I can't let that happen to Pit! No; not after what I've gone through! I couldn't save myself from all of that pain, but damn it all if I can't save someone else!" _Sonic dodged the next attack and slipped behind the Shaydas. He moved quickly, shoving his way through the crowd.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Master Hand called.

Sonic didn't care to respond. He was going to save Pit, no matter what it took. Every second that passed could mean that Mephiles was closer to taking Pit's virginity. He had already taken Sonic's; there was no way he was going to take Pit's as well.

It was time for Sonic to truly face his fears.

XXXXXXXXX

Pit took a deep breath when he was finally untied. That was so sick…and seeing Mephiles become hard from this was even more disgusting.

"You've been very lucky so far, Cupid. You haven't drawn a single penetration card…but your options are becoming limited." Mephiles motioned to the three cards that were left, "So far we've done bondage, beatings, spankings, fingering, fondling, stripping, grinding, and the handjob." Mephiles laughed at the last one, and because Pit's face was covered with his fluid from that act, "All that's left is oral, humping and actual sex. Now we're getting into the good stuff…"

Pit shivered. He really was in big trouble. There was a one in three chance that this nightmare would become true…

"Go ahead, Cupid. Pick a card."

"Um…the one on the right," Pit whispered.

Mephiles flicked it up, "Hmm… humping, eh? Guess we'll save the best two for last." He shifted Pit so the angel was on his hands and knees, moved slightly higher than Pit's entrance, and then rubbed and thrust his groin against the angel's rear.

Pit whimpered from the awkward feeling, and he didn't feel better when Mephiles whispered, "Sh…I'm not going to penetrate you yet. You didn't draw that card." Mephiles' laughter was sure to be permanently stamped in Pit's brain.

XXXXXXXXX

"_How fucking big is this platform anyways?"_ Sonic was slowly making his way through the enemies, who seemed to hesitate before attacking him. Perhaps they had been given the order not to harm him?

Sonic didn't really dwell on the thought. All he knew was that he had to hurry…

"_I'm coming, Pit! Just hang on!"_

XXXXXXXXX

"Enough of that," Mephiles snapped, "I want some real action here! Two cards, Cupid. Your choice."

Pit stared at the cards. He needed to stall as long as possible…oral was better than anal, anyways…

"The left one…" Pit whispered.

Mephiles slowly picked the card up while Pit held his breath. Did he buy a few more minutes of time?

"Oral sex," Mephiles muttered, "You should enter the lottery, Cupid. You seem to have uncanny guessing skills." He pressed his erection against Pit's lips, "Open up, Cupid."

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic had made it through the battle to the other side. He had actually done it.

But there were so many rooms here, and Sonic couldn't afford to skip a single one. Also, he had to wait for the slight moment that the door took to open, considering all of these doors acted on somebody standing there for some time.

"Please be ok, Pit…please be ok!" Sonic whispered to himself, running around like the wind.

XXXXXXXXX

Pit was shaking while he sucked on Mephiles' erection. It was so wrong…but then again, Sonic had done the same thing.

No matter what Mephiles did to him, Pit's thoughts went back to Sonic, and what had happened to the blue hedgehog. Pit couldn't imagine keeping this a secret for so long. Poor Sonic…he had to have done so many things that he felt so bad about…and he was only sixteen. Just a kid, really…still innocent. At least, he used to be.

Pit choked on the semen that suddenly filled his mouth. Mephiles pulled out and snapped, "Swallow it!"

Pit did as the boss commanded, and Mephiles grinned knowingly, "One card left, Cupid…" He picked it up, "And we both know what it is…"

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic was running so fast that he could barely turn the corners. Pit had to be somewhere…just where?

One hallway left, then up to the next floor. Sonic was checking each room as fast he could, "Just a little longer, Pit. I'm coming!"

XXXXXXXXX

"No," Pit whispered, "No!"

"Oh yes," Mephiles chuckled, "This is it, Cupid. Time to lose your virginity…"

He quickly tied Pit's hands to the headboard, and spread the angel's legs apart.

"Anything you want to say before I rape you?"

"Yeah…fuck you."

Mephiles smiled, pulled his hips back, and was about to thrust in when he heard a familiar cry.

"STOP!"

Mephiles was suddenly tackled to the ground, and he rolled over in shock to see Sonic standing there, panting.

"Sonic, it's you! I'm so relieved!" Pit never felt more grateful in his life. Sonic saved him!

"Well, well, what do we have here…" Mephiles looked Sonic up and down, "It's Sonic the Slut. How nice of you to drop in…"

"Shut the fuck up, Mephiles. I'm no slut. You are for raping me," Sonic growled.

Mephiles laughed and stood up, "Don't you remember what I told you, Sonic? This is your fault…"

"No it's not. Don't give me that shit anymore. I'm here for revenge."

"Revenge? I have a better idea…why don't you join Cupid there on the bed, and we can show him some of the things we did together? Afterwards, I'll do the same things on your friend…and then I'll have two little lovers. Little Angel and Cupid…so sweet…"

"Fuck you. This ends now!" Sonic smashed his fist into Mephiles' gut, making him double over. Sonic then began pounding Mephiles' face, breaking his nose and giving him a second black eye. Mephiles hit the blue hedgehog as well, but Sonic didn't seem to care.

Mephiles kicked Sonic back against the bed. Sonic rolled out of the way before Mephiles could grab him, and responded by crouching low and swinging his foot around, knocking Mephiles to the ground. Pit cheered Sonic on.

"You like it rough, don't you? While fighting and in bed…" Mephiles lunged and grabbed Sonic's leg, dragging the blue hedgehog towards him, "I'll give you one hell of a carpet burn from this fucking."

"Never again, Mephiles! This won't happen again!" Sonic slammed his other foot on Mephiles' hand, releasing his leg, "It's all over for you. For good."

Sonic stood up and threw one more kick at Mephiles, making his rapist roll onto his back. Sonic, knowing he had already lost his innocence, didn't hesitate to do what had to be done.

He moved down to Mephiles' erection, took it in his mouth, and then bit down as hard as he could.

XXXXXXXXX

All of the Subspace monsters suddenly stopped attacking, and instead disintegrated into shadow bugs again. The bugs quickly ran off the edges of the platform like a waterfall, and then all was calm.

The Brawlers were stunned for a moment, and then dashed over to the door. Just as they were going to reach it, the door opened, and Sonic and Pit walked out together. Both of their faces were damp, like they had just washed up.

"Pit! Sonic! You guys are alright!" Suddenly the two were being hugged and cuddled by everybody.

"Wait, Pit…were you…raped?" Master Hand asked. Everyone was quiet then and turned to the angel.

"I didn't lose my virginity, if that's what you're asking. I had to do some things…bad things…but Sonic saved me at the last moment." He turned to Sonic, "I owe you, buddy. Thanks."

"I owe you just as much. Call it even," Sonic replied.

"Let's get out of here…I don't want to stay in this fucking place for one more fucking minute!" Snake snapped.

"Right…let's go." The door appeared on the other side of the platform, and the pathway rotated so they could leave.

XXXXXXXXX

Mewtwo, with Lucario's help, opened the portal back to the Base, and everyone stepped into the clearing again. They walked back to the Base in silence; the whole day had gone by, and the sun was setting. Once they reached the back lawn, Wario spoke, "What about me?"

Everyone turned to look at him, puzzled, so he explained, "I raped Sonic…aren't I going to jail?"

"Well, I don't think so…I mean, your body committed the act, but you didn't. It's not just your word either; both Tabuu and Mephiles said so. Unless you're a pedophile…" Master Hand shrugged.

"Hell no! Why the fuck would I ever want to have sex with Sonic? He's a kid! That's just sick…" Wario shuddered.

"I'm no kid, Wario. Damn it all if I haven't seen more action that most of us here," Sonic snapped.

"You're sixteen; that's too young…"

"It was old enough in Tabuu's and Mephiles' books," Sonic replied.

"Forget that, guys. Besides, Sonic will be seventeen in…five days…" Tails interrupted.

"Your birthday! With everything going on, I completely forgot! I mean, we celebrated others, but as June went on I…well, five days should be long enough to get something going." Master Hand pointed at Sonic, "What do you want for it?"

"Not sure." _"I haven't thought about birthdays…I can barely even remember celebrating the ones that happened these past few weeks. Those rapes just ruled my life…" _Sonic shrugged.

"Come to think of it…are you going to return to the Base, Sonic, or are you going home for good?" Mario asked.

"I can't stay here…too much has happened now." Sonic sighed and leaned on Knuckles' shoulder.

"But haven't more good things happened here then bad ones? I mean…" Knuckles' whispered so only Sonic could hear the next part, "Dr. Nam proved that to you. So, why not stay?"

"I can't sleep in that room again…" Sonic shuddered.

"That's ok! We can repaint, redecorate – heck, even swap rooms entirely! Your new room can look so different from your old one that you won't even remember what happened!" Master Hand gave Sonic a thumbs-up.

"Accept his offer, Sonic. Seriously…you have no idea how depressed my bro was when you left…" Crazy Hand patted Sonic, "Please?"

"I…I don't know…"

"I failed you once Sonic, but I just can't fail you again. Please let me try to set things right!" If Master Hand had eyes, they'd be huge and pleading.

"I'll leave, Sonic. You'll never have to see me again…" Wario mumbled, "It's only fair."

"It's not fair that you get punished for something you didn't really do…" Sonic sighed.

"You're just being practical. You haven't truly forgiven me, have you?" Wario asked.

"No," Sonic replied, "I still see you haunting my dreams. I know it isn't your fault, but…it still seems like it is."

"Maybe the both of you could stay? Just…don't have Wario and Sonic put into Brawls together, and if Wario promised to stay away until Sonic feels safe…" Lucas shrugged, "Just an idea…"

"I'll do that. I mean, I know you'll never trust me again, Sonic, but…" Wario looked down, truly ashamed at what happened, "Can we try?"

"Well…" Sonic scratched behind his ear, "I don't know…"

"Let's do a trial period. The four of us," Amy said, motioning to herself, Knuckles, Tails and Shadow, "Will go home tonight and pick up some of Sonic's things and bring them back here. We'll stay tonight and tomorrow just to see how things go, and then we'll return home again for the next four days. On Sonic's birthday, we'll come pick him up regardless because he needs to be home to celebrate. Then he can decide whether or not he can stay. Besides; this way we can throw him a party and Sonic can't see our plans."

"I like that idea! You can always call us to get you earlier if needed, so it should be fine!" Shadow smiled at Sonic, "Are you cool with that?"

Sonic hesitated for a moment, and then slowly nodded, "Yeah…I'll try…"

"Yay! Thanks, Sonic!" Master Hand gave the blue hedgehog a hug, "I'll do my very best! And now everyone, time for dinner! Crazy, let's go cook!" Everyone began to walk back to the Base, laughing and talking cheerfully this time.

"Wow…is he always like that?" Knuckles asked, pointing at Master Hand.

"Yep…he treats us like we're his kids," Sonic replied, laughing softly.

"I can see that he really loves all of you…no wonder you all get along so well," Amy said, "For a fighting tournament, it's actually quite a friendly place."

"That's what's so nice about it…we're all friends here, so we all stand by each other." Sonic sighed and looked at the sunset one last time before going inside.


	32. The Hero's Pain

_**Second to last chapter here…unless I decide to write an epilogue at the very end (haven't really decided if I should or not). This chapter is another long one, although the final one(s) shall be pretty short…anyways, I hope you like it!**_

"Happy birthday to you…"

Shadow moaned and pulled the pillow over his head, "Noooo…"

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Shadow, happy birthday to you!" Sonic giggled and cuddled against his ebony friend.

"Not a happy birthday…I'm too tired."

"It's not that early…"

"It's eight in the fucking morning! Go back to sleep!"

Sonic pretended to pout, "Aw, and I had a nice gift for you and everything…"

"Later…" Shadow huffed, and snuggled under the quilt again. The two hedgehogs were sharing one of the guest rooms, with Tails, Amy and Knuckles close by.

"Come on, up you get! We're booked for nine!" Sonic got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom.

"Booked? What are you talking about?" Shadow sat up and yawned.

Sonic appeared in the doorway with his toothbrush in his mouth, "Whir gonna rawl tobay."

"What?"

Sonic went back into the bathroom, and then came out holding his toothbrush, "I said, 'we're gonna Brawl today.' I asked Master Hand if you could have a shot in the arena, and he said yes. There won't be any final smashes 'cause you don't have one, but all of the items and stuff will be there. And we'll head to 'Battlefield' because nothing happens on there that could screw you up."

"This will be hilarious if you lose…" Shadow rolled out of bed and moved to the bathroom as well.

"You know how all the items work, just like me. But don't worry; I'll take it easy on you…"

"That's not needed! I'll beat you…or at least give you a challenge!"

Sonic laughed, "Well then, Shadow, bring it on!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Morning Sonic, Shadow," Snake said as the two hedgehogs entered the dining room beside him.

"Morning," Sonic replied, walking over to the buffet table. Shadow followed his motions, not sure how everything worked around the Base.

The two sat at one of the makeshift tables Master Hand had put up this morning. Last night everyone forgot that there were guests, so a bunch of Brawlers ended up sitting on someone's lap to eat dinner. Nobody really cared, but it was nicer to have your own seat.

Knuckles, Amy and Tails joined the two hedgehogs, and they all joined the chatter of the room.

"Meals around here sure are interesting…it's like being at a restaurant!" Tails nearly had to shout to be heard.

Sonic laughed, "You get used to it. Since you always sit somewhere new everyday, it's never the same."

"Quite a selection of food, too. And the rooms are right out of fancy hotels. You guys sure are spoiled rotten," Knuckles said, returning with another helping of breakfast.

"Where does all of the money come from? I mean, none of you Brawlers paid a cent to get in, so how do they manage to keep the place so nice?" Tails asked.

Sonic shrugged, "Master and Crazy Hand are billionaires…although nobody really knows how. We never asked."

"You guys must get the best quality for everything. They don't look like they held back on any details…" Amy looked at her crystal glass.

"Eh, I'm not sure about that. Crazy Hand gets his presents for everyone off Ebay."

"Ebay? Seriously?" Shadow laughed, "That's great!"

"I'm serious! I got that awesome Chaos Emerald snow globe from Crazy Hand, and that was off Ebay. I also received a notebook and a stuffed animal of myself, which also came from Ebay. And my solar-powered plant clock, Ian!"

"'Ian'? Why the heck did you name your clock?" Knuckles asked.

"I didn't name it. Tails did!"

"He's right," Tails replied, taking another bite of waffle, "When he came home for Christmas with the clock, out of the blue he asked, 'What should I name it?' and I said, 'Call it Ian.'. It's been Ian ever since."

"Ian? That's a cool name. Hey Crazy, call the cat, 'Ian'!" Link shouted to Crazy Hand, who was across the room.

"Ian! Yes! The kitty's name is now Ian!" Crazy Hand floated out of the room, back into the kitchen.

"What cat?" Sonic asked.

"Um…Crazy brought home another cat…and…it kind of escaped into the wall and has been living in there for a couple of days now…" Link sighed.

"There's more than one cat?" Shadow asked.

"There's a nature preserve not far from here. After our Brawl, Shadow, I'll take you all there. Besides, I want to show Tails Miles," Sonic replied.

"'Miles'?" Amy asked.

"I named a badger Miles after him."

"Wow…it's certainly interesting around here," Knuckles said.

"The universe would come to an end before it became boring," Link replied.

XXXXXXXXX

"For a first battle, you actually didn't do that bad," Sonic said once he had finished his Brawl with Shadow.

"Oh come on; it was a ten-stock match and you had five lives left at the end!"

"Pft; you killed me five times! That's still pretty good considering you've never Brawled before."

"It was mainly luck…like jumping over that motion-sensor bomb while you stepped on it…"

"So what if it was luck? A life's a life, regardless of how it ends it still counts as being taken away."

"You have that permanently in your brain?" Shadow asked, looking at Sonic with concern.

"Yes, I do. Funny how you never notice some things until you're in the situation yourself…know what I mean?"

"I do," Shadow said, pulling Sonic close, "Like us becoming friends? The first day I met you, I never thought in a million years that would happen."

"And I never thought in a billion years that you would become so cheerful. But you still have that smile…it makes you look like you're up to something."

"Good! It makes everything more interesting…" Shadow laughed and gave Sonic a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'm off to chat with Mewtwo…we actually have quite a bit in common. You can go on ahead to the preserve with the others. See you later." Shadow dashed out of the room.

Sonic closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, remembering yesterday…

XXXXXXXXX

"_Shadow…you kissed me?" Sonic squeaked once they broke off the kiss._

"_Of course I did…I love you, Sonic."_

"_You do? Oh, well…this is kind of awkward…" Sonic looked down._

"_I don't expect you to know what you want yet, Sonic. But I'll have you know that if you ever need a boyfriend," Shadow laughed, "I'm here."_

"_I like that idea…at least it won't be scary having to go around alone…"_

"_And if you need a girlfriend, Amy will be perfectly happy to take on that role."_

_Sonic laughed, "I guess she _could_ be better than another fangirl…at least she knows what happened…"_

"_Exactly! Once you get your emotions sorted out…we'll be waiting…" Shadow kissed Sonic one last time, "See you downstairs."_

_Once Shadow left, Sonic took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror again. So there were two friends who loved him…and he wasn't sure which one he could end up being with._

_Maybe he could…? Nah…_

"_I think I'll have to ask both of them out when I feel more confident…then I'll see what happens," Sonic said, looking at himself one last time before retrieving the locket and running downstairs._

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey Sonic; where's Shadow?" Amy asked, running to catch up with the blue hedgehog who had just exited the arena.

"Oh, he left to talk with Mewtwo. I'll take the rest of you to the preserve anyways…where are Tails and Knux?"

"Outside…I wanted to talk with you alone."

"Ok…" Sonic moved to the stairway and sat on the bottom step, patting the seat beside him, "So what's up?"

"I just wanted…I…I was wondering how you're doing," Amy sighed.

Sonic shrugged, "Fine, I guess."

"I was thinking that you still may be scared."

"I'm terrified, Amy. I still wonder if Tabuu and Mephiles will come after me, and…" Sonic shuddered, "After what I did to Mephiles, I don't think he could really do anything to me anymore, but…"

"I'm sure you'll be safe here, and you're always welcome at home," Amy said, grabbing the blue hedgehog's hand.

"I don't think my fears are going to disappear for a long time…but I'm trying. Slowly I can pull myself together again…" Sonic looked at the ground.

"Is there something else on your mind?" Amy asked.

"Yeah…just wondering how everyone is going to treat me now, is all."

"They all seem to be quite nice to you."

"Yeah, but everyone's also being cautious because they don't want to hurt me again…it just makes things awkward…" Sonic sighed, "And…well, I'm nervous because…"

"Because…?"

"Because…because I might be gay, or something…" Sonic muttered.

"What?" Amy whispered.

Sonic quickly glanced around to see if anyone was coming, and once he knew they were alone he explained the idea. Once he finished the pink hedgehog replied, "But you're not sure?"

"No…not really."

"So you could still end up loving me?" Amy whispered, moving closer.

"Well, yeah, maybe…" Sonic sighed, "I still don't know what I want, but, if I find out that I do like girls…we could try going out together…"

"Really?" Amy gasped.

"At least I wouldn't have to explain to you all of the bad things that have happened to me…"

"Oh Sonic; I've been waiting for years to hear you say that!" Amy hugged the blue hedgehog, nearly falling into his lap.

"Well, it's still not definite, but…perhaps."

"That's good enough for me…" Without any warning, Amy turned Sonic's head towards her and pulled him into a kiss, and Sonic slowly kissed her back. After a minute they broke it off, and Sonic blushed slightly before mumbling that the others were waiting outside and that they should get going.

XXXXXXXXX

"There you are! How'd you do?" Knuckles asked Sonic as the two hedgehogs came down the steps.

"I won with five lives left. Shadow did a pretty good job though," Sonic replied.

"Congrats! So where is this preserve anyways?" Tails asked.

"Follow me," Sonic replied, walking past the arena and through the field out back. About two miles away was a long, chain link fence, and Sonic opened the gate, let the others through, and then shut it again.

"Keeps the animals from walking all over the field," Sonic said.

The group talked for a while as Sonic led them deeper into the preserve. Soon he turned around a held a finger to his lips, signaling the others to be quiet.

"Here we are," Sonic whispered, coming to a stop by a tree stump, "Everyone be quiet, and I'll see if I can call him out."

Amy, Knuckles and Tails stayed perfectly quiet while Sonic whistled three long, soft whistles. Soon a black and white head poked out from under the stump and crawled out to see the visitors.

"Hey, Miles…" Tails whispered, looking at the badger. Miles the badger looked at the fox, and then went flat.

"He looks like a rug," Knuckles remarked.

"He always does that," Sonic replied.

"Thanks for the namesake, Sonic. He's pretty nice…" Tails slowly reached over and patted Miles on the head. Miles sniffed Tails' hand, and then out a little squeak.

"Is that a good thing?" Tails asked.

"Yep…he likes you. Here; give him some Cheerios." Sonic poured a handful into Tails' hand.

"Aren't badgers carnivores?" Amy asked.

"Well, Miles here eats cereal. That's how Crazy found him, with a broken leg. But he's better now."

Tails held his hand out again, and Miles sniffed it before gobbling down the cereal. Afterwards he crawled back into his burrow.

"Bye, Miles." Tails stood up, "That was fun…what else is there?"

"Everything imaginable…cows, cougars, deer, you name it. It's nice…I like running in here and seeing all of the 'wild' life. They're all pretty friendly, so you can go right up and pet them," Sonic replied.

"I can't imagine walking up to a bear and petting it," Knuckles laughed.

Sonic laughed as well, "I didn't think so at first, either! We don't _really_ treat this place like a petting zoo…most of the time the animals are nice, but they can be quite vicious!"

"Can we look around a bit more before lunch?" Amy asked.

"I don't see why not," Sonic shrugged.

"You do have a phone call to make, remember? You need to call your psychiatrist," Tails said.

"Right, right…I'll call after lunch. But that's not for another hour and a half. Let's see if any of the other residents are around…" Sonic pushed a branch to the side and stepped through the brush, and the other three followed. Tails pondered what exactly was going to happen with Sonic now, considering how much things changed yesterday…

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic went upstairs to call his therapist after dinner, choosing to fight in Brawls instead, but Tails nagged him between every fight to just get it over with. Sonic sighed, went back into the guest room and phoned. Dr. Nam listened closely as it took Sonic over an hour to explain the events of yesterday. Dr. Nam seemed quite pleased with results; especially with Sonic returning to the Base, "So how do you feel right now?"

"Nervous…I just don't know what to do."

"How odd; someone else controlling Wario's mind…looks like I'll have to figure out a way to make you more comfortable around him again."

"I'm not sure if that's necessary, Nam. I don't think I'm staying…"

"You don't know that for certain, Sonic. Give it a chance; you might change your mind. Do you still wish you never went to the Base?"

Sonic sighed, "I don't really know. I guess it was kind of worth it to come…"

"People seem to really like you…you know, you should really try going into Brawls again. It seems that your fans miss you…"

"I'm already on that," Sonic smiled slightly, tapping the bedspread beside him.

"Look, I want to see you again in person. Could we talk on the twenty-fifth?"

"Yeah, that should be alright…"

"For two in the afternoon?"

"Ok."

"Alright, Sonic. I'm glad things are working out for you. I'll see you in a few days."

"Thanks, Nam. See you later." Sonic hung up the phone and looked at 'Ian', his plant-clock that someone brought for him from home. It was already eight in the evening…and that meant that his friends were going home. Sonic gulped, more than just a little worried at spending the night alone, and he dashed down the stairs to say goodbye.

XXXXXXXXX

Knuckles waved at the blue hedgehog when he rushed outside, "I was wondering when you'd show up. Come to see us off, then? I hope that you weren't thinking too much about…other things today."

"I'm here now; it took some time to explain to Dr. Nam…I have an appointment at two on the twenty-fifth. You know, today was actually pretty nice," Sonic said, "Maybe staying won't be so bad after all…it was pretty fun Brawling again…"

"See? You had fun today, and I'm sure it'll be fun for the next few days," Knuckles said, hugging Sonic as the four were about to leave.

"You guys were around me all day. Now that I'm alone…"

"Hey, we're not that far away. Just give us a call if you need something. Ok?"

"Sure…" Sonic snuggled against the echidna, "Bye Knuckles."

"I'll see you in four days, buddy…we'll have something great planned for you; just you wait and see."

Sonic waved as he friends took off. Afterwards, he went back inside, but wasn't quite sure what to do. Before, he could have simply joined in, but now…

Sonic heard a number of voices coming from the entertainment room, and he looked inside to see a bunch of Brawlers about to watch a movie. Sonic slipped inside and sat in front of the couch, next to Pikachu.

"Hey Sonic! Come to watch _The Blair Witch Project _with us?" Pikachu asked, throwing a handful of popcorn back at Kirby.

"Yeah…do you guys mind?"

"No, not at all! Kirby, stop that!" Pikachu dumped his cup of Coke over the puffball, who laughed and licked the soda around his lips.

"What I like about this movie is that is doesn't follow the same criteria of the cliché horror movie," Meta Knight said, coming in and sitting between Kirby and Pikachu.

"Which would be…?" Pikachu asked.

"There are about five people in a house and they hear about some killer. The lights go out. One person goes to explore the basement, attic or some other far, obscure place. They die. Two people go have sex. They die. One person is smart and figures everything out; they live. And there's one person who is completely oblivious the entire time; they live too."

"Best movie ever!" Kirby laughed.

"Quiet…well, quieter! The movie's starting!" Zelda hissed.

Soon, every Brawler made their way into the room to watch. Most of them simply came, looked around to find a place to sit and then moved there. But when Wario came in and saw Sonic sitting at the end of the couch closet to him, he purposely moved to the other side and stayed far away as possible.

Once that movie was done, they put in _Scream,_ followed by _Jeepers Creepers _and then _The Hills Have Eyes_. After four horror movies, everybody was on edge, and when the power suddenly went out they all screamed.

Master Hand rushed in a second later holding a candle, "Is everyone alright?"

The Brawlers all looked at each other and then started laughing. "Yeah, we're fine," Samus laughed.

"What happened? Where are the lights?" Red asked.

"The newly named 'Ian' was starting to chew on the cables so Crazy shut the power off so the cat won't get zapped. For crying out loud; another animal! Man…" Master Hand floated over and saw the movie cases, "You guys! Four horror movies? I thought you would have all learned by now!"

"Not even close…" Jigglypuff giggled.

"I guess not! Just as long as nobody wakes up and walks around because of bad dreams, then it's alright…" Master Hand shut off the television, "All of you; go to bed! You should have all been freaked out enough for tonight."

Everyone jokingly protested but made their way upstairs. Sonic went back into the guest room and closed the door. The window was open, and Sonic quickly ran over and shut it. No need to leave anything accessible…

There was a slight buzzing sound, and then the bedside lamp flickered on. Sonic let out a sigh of relief and went to take a shower. He was pretty tired, and once he finished cleaning all of the soda and popcorn out of his quills he crawled in bed and fell asleep instantly.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic did wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares, but not from the horror movies. The blue hedgehog tried to move closer to Shadow, but whimpered when he remembered Shadow wasn't there. He was all alone in the bed.

"At least I still have you, Galaxy," Sonic sighed, cuddling the stuffed unicorn. It couldn't respond or protect him, but it was better than nothing. Good thing Shadow brought him.

There was light tapping at the door, and Sonic's eyes got huge. He hugged the unicorn closer and called out, "Who's there?"

"It's just me, Sonic."

"Pit?"

"Yeah…can I come in?"

"Uh…sure…"

Pit opened the door and walked over to the bed while Sonic flicked on the bedside lamp. He pushed Galaxy underneath the covers and then looked up at the angel in shock to see him crying.

"Pit…is something wrong?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah," Pit sniffed, sitting on the edge of the bed, "Bad dreams…I thought you'd understand the best…"

"About Mephiles?" Pit nodded, and his shoulders shook with sobs.

"You're not the only one," Sonic muttered, crawling out from underneath the covers and sitting beside the angel.

"You too? Really?"

"Yeah…every night since day one. It hurts, doesn't it? It's so scary…" Sonic wrapped an arm around the angel's waist.

Pit hugged Sonic close and whispered, "I just can't stop thinking about…if you were a moment later…" Pit took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"Don't, Pit. Cry if it makes you feel better…" Sonic sighed, and a few tears trickled down his cheeks, "I know it does for me."

"I've never seen you cry before," Pit said, tears flowing.

"I rarely do, but right now it makes me feel better…and it's much safer than what I've done before…"

"What did you do?" Pit asked, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, though."

"Promise you won't tell?"

"Of course."

Sonic slipped off his glove and showed Pit his scarred hand, "I did this to myself."

"You…you cut yourself?" Pit asked, shocked.

"I was desperate…I got to this point where I was ready to do anything just to feel better. I've stopped now, so don't worry about it. I'm going to prevent you from making the same mistakes I did."

"You were in a different situation, Sonic. It was so much worse…you couldn't tell anyone, and he actually got you…"

"It doesn't matter…he raped you orally. It still hurts; even if someone doesn't completely rape you, just the attempt…it hurts."

"Yeah…it does…" Pit sobbed, and the two friends hugged each other and cried.

After some time their sobs weren't as strong, and Sonic managed to get out, "Feel better?"

"Yeah…quite a bit, actually…" Pit sniffed, "Thanks, Sonic. I needed that."

"We both did…and probably still do," Sonic smiled through his tears, "At least it's over now."

"I still can't get over the fact that you bit his dick off…what made you crazy enough to do that?"

"I was already crazy from what he did to me…I know I could have just fought him some more, but that way I was sure he could never rape either of us again. Besides; I didn't have a knife with me…"

"I owe you a lot, Sonic. I don't know how to thank you…"

"Go get me a nice birthday gift. How's that?"

"From Ebay?"

"From wherever…" Sonic laughed. "I don't care. But Pit, if you ever need to talk about what happened…I'm here, and I'll listen."

"Thanks, buddy…I'll see you in the morning." Pit hugged Sonic one last time, and then left the room.

Sonic crawled back under the covers, and was able to fall asleep again, hugging Galaxy to his chest.

XXXXXXXXX

The next two days were pretty uneventful. Most of the time the Brawlers were planning out Sonic's birthday party; and that obviously meant he couldn't hang around and join in. He did get into a few Brawls, but like the others a few days before people seemed to hesitate before striking him, and wouldn't go anywhere near his lower half. It made it a lot easier to attack, especially from above where most fighters would only go after his feet.

Sonic stared at the arena doors while thinking about all of this, and then he sighed and turned away. He really wasn't up for something that reminded him of how much everything had changed…well, two more days and he was going home. He could just stay there.

"Hey Sonic, want to play 'Brawl-opoly' with us?" Pikachu asked, waving the hedgehog over into the dining room.

"Sure…why not," Sonic muttered. He joined the group, but he really wasn't paying much attention. Sonic was sure he wasn't going to hang around the Base anymore; even now he was just counting down the hours until he went home.

"So, Sonic…have you decided if you're staying or leaving yet?" Roy asked, moving his piece.

"Still going home," Sonic replied, resting his chin in his hands.

"Why?" Diddy Kong asked.

"You guys don't really need me here…" Sonic mumbled. At that point, a little gray furry head poked out from the wall. Ian the cat slowly crawled out, moved over to a food dish, and began to eat.

"Guys, look! It's Ian!" Olimar pointed to the cat.

"We need to catch him…" Red summoned Ivysaur and whispered, "Ivysaur, use your vines to grab the cat!"

Ivysaur nodded and moved closer, ready to strike. Ian continued eating, like he hadn't noticed the Pokémon. But once Ivysaur sent out his vines, Ian turned around and dashed back towards the wall.

In a flash, Sonic was off his chair and by the wall. He grabbed Ian's belly and dragged the cat away from the wall, with Ian protesting the whole time. Sonic then moved his hands under Ian's arms and kneeled down, pressing his legs lightly against the cat's ribs.

"You caught him! See, we do need you!" Pikachu cheered, running over and petting the cat.

"Oh come on…any of you could have grabbed him!" Sonic replied.

"Are you kidding me? I've been trying for days now!" Crazy Hand floated in, hearing the commotion, "I should have you help me out more often, Sonic!"

"Eh, whatever…" Sonic handed Ian over to the hand, "It wasn't that hard."

"But you did it! We do need you here…" Pikachu smiled.

"Like there are that many cats for me to catch around here!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean! Come on…"

"Sorry Pik; right now I'm still not comfortable here. Are we going back to the game now, or what?" Pikachu sighed and followed Sonic back to the table, still silently hoping Sonic would change his mind.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic went to bed early again; only at ten, which was pretty unusual for him. Tomorrow everyone was going shopping for party supplies, while he was supposed to go and get his new room set up. That probably would take all day…then he could eat supper and hang out in his room until bedtime. And then, the next morning there was a party and he would be home. Really then; not much longer.

"Someday, things will be ok again…and then I'll try to come back…" Sonic sighed and snuggled Galaxy next to him, slowly falling asleep.

XXXXXXXXX

"_Hey Sonic." Sonic opened his eyes and found himself back in Subspace. He whimpered and looked around, trying to spot the person talking to him._

"_Go away!" Sonic shuddered. There were only two people in Subspace…_

"_Relax, Sonic…that's all over." Sonic finally turned to see Tabuu standing to his left, holding onto a little girl's hand, "I don't want you anymore. I finally have a family member back…I don't need you to feel love…" Tabuu grinned, picked up the girl and hugged her, "I guess you do deserve an apology, and a 'thank you'. So that's it. I'm done with you now. Get a move on in your life…oh, but Mephiles wants to talk with you first. Afterwards, he's going back to a different realm; not his original…like I care." Tabuu laughed, "Farewell, Sonic!"_

_Tabuu turned to leave, but Sonic called out, just out of curiosity, "Is this real, Tabuu? How do you get in my dreams?"_

_The boss looked back at his victim, "A little power I have…I can transfer my emotions and thoughts into other people's dreams. It takes a lot of energy; however…Mephiles does it sometimes as well. Speaking of him, here he is…and don't worry, you can no longer really be harmed: the cuff and the plans have been destroyed. I made sure of that." Tabuu disappeared in a blue flash and Mephiles took his place._

_Sonic gulped and took a step back, and Mephiles sighed, "Don't bother, Sonic. I don't exactly have the organ necessary to rape you anymore. You've got balls, hedgehog. I never expected you'd do that. I was going to overpower you once you came close, but damn…I didn't see that one coming."_

"_So what do you want?" Sonic asked, "Aren't you mad at me for –"_

"_Damn fucking right I'm mad at you! You fucking defeated me and locked me back in my realm, unable to return to yours and take over! You fucking bit my dick off, and I can't grow another one! But at least I'm alive…I'll find another way to come after you. Just you wait…"_

"_Really now…what do you want?"_

_Mephiles sighed, "Come on, Sonic…don't you remember a thing? About Iblis, or Elise, or…anything?"_

"_Um, no…nothing at all. You could be speaking about a book or movie, let alone something that happened."_

"_Well, fuck. Then that won't do any good to repeat, if you are just going to forget it all…" Mephiles shook his head slightly, then smiled, "Wait a second…that's it! I know what to do!"_

"…_You do?"_

"_Yeah…but…it'll require getting rid of a few more pests…" Mephiles laughed, "Tell you what, hedgehog. It'll take me some time, but in about a month I'll send two more friends your way."_

"_What?"_

"_Silver and Blaze…remember them?"_

"_No…"_

"_Well, then you can get acquainted while I continue my scheme…since tricking them the first time failed, you can be good buddies firsthand while I plot to take over your world. And above all, I'll make sure they're stuck in your time period forever…not like they'd want to return to the future anyways…"_

"_Ok, I seriously have no fucking clue what you're talking about."_

"_Iblis, the Flames of Disaster, princesses and time travel…good stuff. But to hell with that crap; since you now know me, it won't do any good to sneak. Time for a more…'direct' assault…and for more revenge." Mephiles chuckled, "Well, goodbye, Sonic…for now."_

_There was a bright flash, and then Mephiles was gone. Sonic was left alone, puzzled on what Mephiles' plot was._

"_Isn't that just great; another villain who wants to take over the world. But who did he talk about again…Silver and Blaze, huh? I wonder who they could be…I guess I'll find out, and since Mephiles doesn't like them, it'll mean more on my side." Sonic smiled, "Good luck, Mephiles…you don't stand a chance this time!"_

XXXXXXXXX

"So, what do you think? Do you like this color or this one?" Master Hand pointed to two different shades of green on a color strip. Sonic looked at the two for a minute before picking out the lighter one. He didn't think that so far he'd actually stay, but Crazy Hand pleaded with him to just go to the store and act like he might, just to cheer Master Hand up. Besides; he could come back, or even visit. Might as well have a room set up for him…

"Ok; so colors are almost done. I'm kind of surprised you want green walls instead of blue this time…"

"It's Emerald Green, and I like it. Besides, I still want the accents in blue…"

"Of course!" Master Hand grabbed more color strips, "Which kind: sky, ocean, periwinkle, marine, aqua…"

"I like sky…although the aqua is pretty nice too…"

"Ok, so it's sky blue for the room and aqua for your bathroom. Now, which bed would you like?" Master Hand grabbed Sonic's hand and pulled him towards the bed section of the department store, while dragging the shopping cart behind him, "Queen Size is probably big enough for you…"

"That'll do."

"Which headboard? And we'll have to test out mattresses later…"

Sonic sighed and let Master Hand rant. He had to go through all of this once before, when he arrived at the Base, and the second time around took just as long.

"Hey Master Hand, I need a ride back to the Base. I've got something that needs to go in the fridge A.S.A.P!" Peach came up to the hand and hedgehog bearing a huge cake box, "I'm not up for carrying this all the way…"

"Here; take the keys and drive that car. Sometimes I think I should actually go and buy a few vehicles, but…meh. The only time we really use cars is for major shopping and appointments in winter…" Master Hand tossed the keys to Peach, but because she was carrying the cake she couldn't grab them, and they fell onto the ground.

"Is that my cake? Can I see?" Sonic asked, trying to look through the misty plastic after handing back the keys.

"It's your cake, but of course you cannot see! It's a surprise!" Peach moved the box away from Sonic.

"Do you need some help?" Ike asked, coming up and holding a grocery bag, "I've got a few things that need to go into the freezer…"

"Sure do! Hold the cake…I'll drive." Peach dumped the box into Ike's arms and walked away laughing and tossing the keys. Ike followed, having a little trouble carrying everything.

Sonic could see the exit to the rest of the mall from where he was standing, and the other Brawlers were moving around and seemed to be having fun. "Are we done for now, Master Hand? Can I go?" Sonic asked.

"Sorry, Sonic…you know everyone is shopping for you. I'm not letting you leave until everything is safely hidden."

"Oh, fine…" Sonic looked back at the furniture in front of him, "This chair seems pretty cool…and it's in green and blue. Perhaps I'll take that one…"

XXXXXXXXX

After a full day of shopping, Sonic was relieved to get back to the Base. His birthday was tomorrow, and he'd be home soon enough. Besides; if Mephiles was planning to attack his home…he was going to be there to defend it.

They had eaten out for dinner, and of course somebody had told the manager that Sonic's birthday was tomorrow. So Sonic was pretty embarrassed when he got an ice cream cake – that was on fire, somehow – and the whole restaurant singing 'happy birthday', as well as a plastic birthday crown and was made to blow out the cake. Although Sonic had to admit; the cake was pretty good…

"_Well, at least that's all done with…just tomorrow, and I can handle that embarrassment. Oh wait; I have another party after…ack…" _Sonic leaned against the wall and took another sip of soda, watching the other Brawlers talk and play games in the entertainment room together. He really wasn't up for chatting, and they all seemed to notice that and left him alone.

Master Hand came into the room and tapped Sonic on the shoulder, "Could you come with me for a minute? I have a few more details for your room and I want your opinion…"

"Yeah, yeah, of course…" Sonic took his soda and followed Master Hand out, knowing that this 'minute' probably would end up being an hour or two.

Once the hedgehog was gone, Pichu ran over and shut the twin doors, and everyone gathered together around a small table so they could discuss the party.

"Ok, so we've got the streamers…oh jeez, did anyone remember tape? I totally forgot…" Marth sighed.

"No worries; I picked some up. When are we going to blow up all of those balloons?" Luigi asked.

"Well, since Sonic has been going to bed early we could stay up later and do it then," Link replied.

"And we will have extra time because of our little hunt…did everyone plant the clues?" Kirby asked.

Those who were involved nodded, except for one Brawler. "Not me," Pikachu sighed, "I couldn't find a good place to hide it, except…well, since that room has a canopy bed I thought of taping it to the underside so when he woke up he'd see it, but I'm too short…"

Ganondorf, a little bored with all of the planning said, "Give it to me, Pikachu. I'll go do that right now…" Pikachu handed the piece of paper to Ganondorf, and he left the room.

"Well, so that's complete. Anyways, we need to get the barbecue going early on in the party, considering we probably won't have time to eat a good breakfast…" Kirby went on about the idea, and the others joined in. More planning and finalizing was done, and then Ganondorf walked in…

"Hey, look what I found in Sonic's bed…" Ganondorf held up a blue, stuffed winged unicorn.

"So? It's probably a gift," Fox replied.

"Why'd you take it? It's not yours!" Meta Knight snapped.

"He was probably sleeping with it…kind of funny how a hero sleeps with a stuffed animal." Ganondorf walked to the center of the group and dropped the stuffy on the table.

"Put it back! You don't have any right to take his stuff!" Zelda crossed her arms and glared at her enemy.

"You guys do have to admit that it's weird that Sonic has a stuffed unicorn in his bed…seems odd for him," Snake shrugged.

"I never knew Sonic was scared of the dark…maybe he has a nightlight too?" Bowser laughed.

"Stop it! That's not funny!" Lucas growled.

"Come on; this thing is babyish…even by your standards!" Bowser let out a howl of pain when Lucas shot a PK fire at him.

"But it is pretty cute for a baby toy…I wonder if he named it?" Ganondorf pondered, patting the stuffy.

"I did name it…his name is Galaxy." The room became dead silent, and everyone turned to face Sonic, who had just walked in. Sonic walked up to the table on which the plans were laid, pushed Ganondorf to the side and picked up the unicorn.

"You don't have any business going through my room," Sonic muttered, hugging Galaxy to his chest.

"Aren't you a little old to be sleeping with stuffed toys?" King Dedede asked.

"After what's happened to me, don't I deserve to get any form of comfort I want without being ridiculed for it?" Sonic snapped, "Did you just show off Galaxy as some kind of fucking joke to mock me?"

"We didn't do anything, Sonic! He just brought it down…" Ness trailed off, unsure of what he should say.

"Oh sure; and what were you guys wanting to do with him?"

"I was just wondering why you have it…" Ganondorf muttered.

"Why the fuck do you think I have it? I have nightmares every fucking night and I wake up terrified! I sleep with Galaxy because he keeps me calmer and less likely to go even more fucking insane than I already am!" Sonic's voice choked up, and his eyes filled with tears, "You know, just because I act ok doesn't mean I don't fall asleep crying, and even if it seems like I'm much better maybe, just maybe I'm simply good at faking it." Sonic ran out the room with the unicorn, not wanting the Brawlers to see him cry.

Everyone heard the front door slam, and it was quiet for another minute. Then Pit turned to Ganondorf and without warning punched him in the face.

"OW! What the fuck, Pit?" Ganondorf snapped, holding his bloody nose.

"Why do you have to be so cruel? Don't you have any idea how traumatized Sonic is from his experiences? He's trying to get better, and if you make him feel bad for doing so he could end up trying unhealthy methods to cope." Pit took a deep breath, "I mean, I was only orally raped…but that still hurt. Even I have nightmares of what's happened…and I don't feel a fraction of the pain Sonic does. Even if you've never been sexually assaulted, you should at least fucking know that it hurts!" Pit turned and began to walk to the door, "Fuck, I'm going to go talk to him…"

"No, Pit…let me go. I know what to do," Mario said, stepping beside Pit and grabbing the angel's arm.

Pit slowly nodded, "Well, ok…if you're sure…" Pit stepped back and let Mario run after their speedy friend.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic was sitting on the grassy hill from a few weeks before, holding Galaxy to his chest and crying his heart out. None of the Brawlers had a damn clue how he was feeling, and it should be pretty fucking obvious that he was in pain! How could they be so mean?

"_It's not fair! So what if I have a stuffed animal to comfort me? Would they rather have me start cutting again, just because that isn't so 'babyish'?" _Sonic cried into the plush and let it wipe away his tears.

"There you are, Sonic!" Mario ran up the hill, panting slightly. He had been searching for the hedgehog for a good half hour…but at least he knew Sonic well enough to know the hedgehog was more likely to run in a field instead of the woods at night.

"Go away! I hate you!" Sonic sobbed, not even looking at the plumber.

"Sonic…" Mario sighed, walking up the hill and sitting beside the hedgehog, "I know you're mad at me, well, all of us…but we weren't laughing at you. Ganondorf just found it and was wondering…"

"Well, what the fuck was he doing in my room, let alone in my bed? Is he a fucking pedophile too?" Sonic snapped.

"He was just doing something for your party…please don't be angry, Sonic. We do love you."

"If you do, you certainly have a funny way of showing it." Sonic had stopped crying so hard, but tears still rolled down his cheeks, "I'm going home, Mario. Don't bother trying to convince me otherwise; I'm gone."

"It's ok," Mario sighed, "I understand."

"No, you don't understand! None of you do! With the exception of Pit, you guys aren't on the same page as me; hell, not even the same book or in the same fucking library! You guys don't get how much it hurts to be raped! It's not something you can just bounce back from; it's hard, even for a hero. Damn it all if I want to sleep with a stuffed unicorn, I should be able to do so without being laughed at!" Sonic glared at Mario, still crying.

"I'm an exception as well, Sonic. I know how much it hurts to be raped...and how hard it is to heal…because…"

"Because what?"

"Because…because I was raped before, too."

Sonic stared at Mario in shock as the plumber looked down at his feet. "Really? When?" Sonic whispered after a minute of silence.

"About two years ago," Mario sniffed, tears welling up behind his eyes from the memory, "You see, I was captured by Bowser once, and Luigi was with me…well, we weren't exactly happy with our conditions…"

"If you're captured, who would be?" Sonic interrupted.

"True…anyways, the two of us were having fun since we couldn't escape, mocking the guards and such; but they couldn't do anything because Bowser had ordered them not to harm us. But one night, there were just three of us – Luigi, the captain of the guards and myself. The captain was drinking and getting drunk, and Luigi and I were making fun of him…finally he got so upset he walked over to the cage, dragged me out, took me into another room…and raped me. It happened so fast that I couldn't do anything to stop him; it suddenly, just…happened. I barely understood what had occurred until after he finished with me and called me a whore."

"You're no whore…and neither am I. Our rapists are…" Sonic sighed, "So what happened after that?"

"Well, he kicked me and told me to clean myself up. I could barely pick up my clothes and put them back on because I was in so much pain and crying so hard. Then he grabbed my arm, dragged me back to the cell and threw me in. He didn't touch me again, but even after we were free I had nightmares for months afterwards."

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"Luigi found out within the first five minutes when I came back in tears. Other than him…just you…nobody else knows anything about it."

"I…I never knew…I'm sorry I yelled at you…" Sonic sniffed, "Does it hurt you anymore?"

"Only when I think about it," Mario sighed, crying a little, "It's not on my mind anymore. And don't apologize; you do have a right to be mad at everyone."

"How long did it take you to get better?"

"A few months, and then the pain wasn't so fresh and it was easier to ignore. But I still get upset if I think about it…but I guess you already know that, don't you?"

"Yeah…" Sonic cuddled Galaxy a little closer, "But you probably didn't have a stuffed animal like me…"

"I slept with all of the lights on instead. That's more childish than a toy…"

"Not really…"

"Ah, it doesn't matter. Whatever makes you feel better is good." Mario patted Galaxy, "You know, it's interesting what people can hide…I bet there's at least one other Brawler besides you, me and Pit who was sexually assaulted."

"Do you think so?" Sonic whispered.

"I wouldn't doubt it. No matter how well you know someone, there's always one battle they're fighting that you don't know about. For you and me, it's trying to live after being raped."

"I can barely do it…I've tried so many bad ways to get better…"

"You're not the only one…I had a few suicidal thoughts myself, among other things. If Luigi hadn't known about what happened, I probably would have attempted it." Mario looked at Sonic in the eyes, "Sonic, it doesn't matter anymore what you've done. What matters is that you forget all of that crap and move on. You can never get back what you've lost…but you can become strong and whole again. Give yourself time."

"Time…sure…I'll wait…" Sonic mumbled.

"Wait forever if you have to. Just don't give up on yourself. I was able to recover, and I'm sure you can too." Mario patted Sonic on the back.

"Thanks Mario," Sonic sighed, finally able to stop crying.

"Hey, anything for a friend…and sadly, another victim. But enough about that...are you ready to go back?" Mario stood up and offered Sonic his hand.

"Actually, I was thinking I'd like to sleep here tonight. I'll return in the morning, though."

"Ok…I'll tell everyone what you've decided. You're not going to tell anyone what happened to me…are you?"

"Other than possibly my therapist, no."

"You're seeing a psychiatrist? Good for you! Took me months before I had enough courage to see one myself…it'll help a lot. Talking helps; keeping anything bad a secret doesn't."

"I know that all too well…" Sonic sighed and lay down on the grass, "Goodnight, Mario."

"Happy early birthday, Sonic the Hedgehog, and goodnight to you as well."

With one final wave Mario started back down the hill and to the Base. Sonic put Galaxy under his head and used him as a pillow. Slowly Sonic closed his eyes…

XXXXXXXXX

_Sonic blinked in shock to see his funeral again, with everyone upset and mourning. His statue and the flowers were the only things that weren't dull; everything else was black, gray and dark. The sky was even colored with strange, yellow puffy clouds. _

_This couldn't be…didn't he stop himself from dying?_

"_No! I'm not dead! I want to live, damn it!" Sonic shouted, but the mourners didn't seem to hear him. _

"_Don't bother with them…it's just an illusion, anyways." Sonic whirled around to see…himself?_

"_Hey, you…um, me. How ya doing?" The other Sonic laughed._

"_What the hell?" Sonic whispered, taking a step back._

"_Relax; this is just a dream…and that's not going to happen for a long while, I hope." The other Sonic pointed to the funeral, "I stopped you from making that happen earlier, but try not to do anything risky with us."_

"_What? What are you…you spoke to me earlier, didn't you? That was you telling me I wasn't dead yet!" Sonic pointed at the copy, "Who are you?"_

"_A future you, perhaps? Or maybe an illusion of your mind. But I did tell you to live…and you followed my advice." The copy winked, "Come on now…this isn't our place." He grabbed Sonic's hand and pulled him to the top of a hill, "This is."_

_The sky was blue here, and there was green grass and a soft wind. And there was a party going on._

"_It's your birthday…that's where you should be. Go on now," the copy pushed Sonic forward, "I've got things to do; no reason for me to hang around. I'll see you soon." He turned to leave._

"_Hold on a minute," Sonic called, "If you're part of my mind, my future or whatever, tell me this…who will I end up with, Amy or Shadow?"_

_The copy looked back and grinned, "That's for me to know and you to find out." Sonic didn't have time to reply, for the copy ran off._

"_Hey!" Sonic snapped, "Get back here!"_

"_Who are you talking to?" Sonic turned around to see Tails coming up the hill from the party._

"_Uh…no one…"_

"_Well, ok…at least you're here now! We were wondering when you'd finally show up!" Tails dragged Sonic down the rest of the hill, "Hey, look who's finally here!"_

_The rest of Sonic's dream was just a party…a happy dream; no rapes, no dark memories…just fun. At one point, Sonic turned around and thought he saw Tabuu, and Shania standing off to the side, waving, and Mephiles glaring. But Sonic didn't care to look long enough to decide if they were real or not._

_It's not like they mattered to him anymore. _

_**Writer's block, ok? That's my excuse for not describing a few days. But it's not like they were important, so whatever.**_

_**So much random stuff happens here…like that cake. You know, who doesn't want a cake that's on fire? Everyone does! And just to make it more interesting, it needed to be an ice cream cake!**_

_**Anyways, everything shall be tied up next chapter, and I will possibly add an extra one set a few months later. I'll see…**_


	33. Happy Birthday

_**There are a ton of riddles in this chapter (so I can make it longer! Ha ha ha!). If you're bored, try to solve the clues before reading on for a little challenge. If you can figure out all seventeen, I shall give you…an invisible goat. And you can have one that shoots lasers out of its eyes if you review as well!**_

The sunbeams shining down on Sonic's eyes woke him up. He rolled over, blinked, and then sat up.

"_Well then…happy seventeenth birthday, Sonic."_ The blue hedgehog got to his feet and tucked Galaxy under his arm. _"Guess I might as well get this over with…"_

Sonic ran back to the Base and through the front door. But surprisingly, nobody was there.

"Hello?" Sonic called. No answer…the place was completely silent. Sonic shut the door behind him and went to explore the Base. There wasn't anybody around…not in the dining room, kitchen, arena…anywhere.

"Where is everyone?" Sonic ran upstairs and checked every Brawler's room. He still hadn't found anyone.

"This is ridiculous…" Sonic muttered, walking back to his temporary room. He tossed Galaxy onto the bed and lay down beside the unicorn. He rolled onto his back and saw a piece of paper taped to the canopy.

"What the…?" Sonic got to his feet, jumped up and snatched the paper. He unfolded it and read,

_Happy 17th birthday, Sonic! _

_We made this up just for you. _

_There are 17 clues (one for each year) _

_And each one comes with a prize, so don't skip! _

_Anyways, here's your first clue:_ cat in _ hat _

_Pikachu!_

"What kind of clue is this?" Sonic flipped the paper around and saw a piece of saltwater taffy taped to the back. He ate the candy and studied the clue, _"The cat in the hat? Is that it? That's not very hard…but what am I exactly supposed to do? Find the book? Is there even a copy of that book around here?" _Sonic looked around the room, but there wasn't anything there, "Am I actually going to be able to find this thing?"

Sonic looked at the paper again. Was 'Pikachu' part of the clue, or was it just Pikachu signing his name? Pikachu did seem like somebody who would randomly have children's books…

Sonic ran over to Pikachu's room and went inside. This room was red with white accents, and the lyrics to the first Pokémon theme song were written in white as a border at the top of the wall. Across from the bed was an entire wall of shelves, filled with video games, books and Pokémon merchandise. Sonic looked through the shelves, but there wasn't a copy of the book he needed.

"Ok, so now I'm kind of stumped…" Sonic looked around the room, and on Pikachu's desk was a small, ceramic cat wearing a hat.

"Oh…is that it?" Sonic picked up the object but found nothing. He looked at the wall, and then his gaze slowly went up…and there was a small piece of paper taped to it. Sonic was confused for a moment, and then he got it. It was taped to the 'the' in the title, 'The Pokémon Theme Song'. The answer was 'the'.

"Pretty clever…" Sonic grabbed the next clue and opened it,

_Second clue: _

_Hands she has but does not hold _

_Teeth she has but does not bite _

_Feet she has but they are cold _

_Eyes she has but without sight. _

_What is she? Look in my room for the answer! _

_Princess Peach_

"Alright…" Sonic moved on while eating the lollipop he got as a prize for the second clue. It didn't take long before he found the next clue in the arms of a Princess Peach doll, along with a candy necklace.

"Heh…if I keep earning candy I won't be able to eat any cake! Let's see this next clue…" Sonic opened up the paper,

_Third clue: _

_I have a spine, but no bones _

_I do not speak, but stories I've still told _

_I have been around for centuries, but made only yesterday _

_I can give you endless knowledge or send you someplace far away _

_What am I?_

"Um…" Sonic sat down, "Time to think here…"

XXXXXXXXX

"How far do you think Sonic's gotten in that hunt you guys set up for him?" Mewtwo asked Pikachu while taping up a streamer.

"Hopefully not too far…we've got plenty to do!" Pikachu turned around, "Hey guys; careful with that thing! If it breaks, then we'll be stuck with a lot of extra chocolate…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh, I get it! A book! Must be in the library!" Sonic slipped the candy necklace onto his wrist and ran downstairs. He was correct; there was a blue teddy bear wearing a party hat along with another folded piece of paper right in the middle of the room.

"This is too easy! I'll be done in no time!" Sonic tucked the bear under his arm and read the next hint,

_Fourth clue: _

_My name can be a riddle. _

_It comes at night without being fetched _

_And by day is lost without being stolen_

"What? Comes at night…by day is lost…the moon? No…stars! Kirby of the stars! Got it!" Sonic ran back upstairs, and peeking out from under Kirby's door was another piece of paper and a fifty dollar bill. How come he didn't notice that before?

"Someone's being generous…" Sonic opened the next clue, "Although I think it's to make up for how annoying this next clue is…"

_Fifth clue: _

_Whoever makes it, tells it not. _

_Whoever takes it, knows it not. _

_And whoever knows it wants it not._

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh, I wish Sonic'd hurry up! I'm starving!" King Dedede reached for a hamburger but Ike slapped his hand back.

"Hey, we can't eat without the birthday boy! Just wait!" Ike pushed the platter away.

"We shouldn't have written so many riddles…" Dedede huffed and sat back on the bench.

"We had to; if he solved them too fast he'd find us too quickly before we're ready. Come on, use those big lungs of yours and blow up this balloon!" Meta Knight handed the penguin a silver one.

"I thought this was Kirby's job," Dedede replied, holding up the deflated balloon and glancing at the star warrior.

Meta Knight glanced at Kirby, who once again had accidentally inhaled the air from the balloon and now looked like a balloon himself, "He's having some difficulties…"

XXXXXXXXX

"I wonder if the money is a clue…" Sonic glanced at the fifty dollar bill, "Hmm…" He held it up to the light, something he had learned from Wolf on how to tell whether or not a bill was fake.

This bill was real, but the answer popped into Sonic's head from doing the random act. The answer was counterfeit money! "There's that change jar in the kitchen that says, 'money to counterfeit'…perhaps…" Sonic ran downstairs, "Yeesh, they're really making me run all over the place…"

Inside the jar was a giant chocolate chip cookie and the next clue,

_Sixth clue: _

_A dozen royals gathered round _

_Entertained by two who clowned _

_Each King there had servants ten _

_Though none of them were also men _

_The lowest servant sometimes might _

_Defeat the King in a fair fight _

_A weapon stout, a priceless jewel, the beat of life, a farmer's tool _

_What is this riddle talking about? Go find it!_

"Whoever wrote this one has talent! Hmm…the beat of life…isn't that a heart? So the others…a diamond…a club and spade! A deck of cards! The table we always use to play card games in the entertainment room! That must be it!"

Sonic ran to the table and found a small cupcake along with the next clue. He had moved so quickly throughout the Base earlier trying to find someone that he must have missed all of the little clues and prizes. Not like it mattered; he was doing quite well. "I'm actually pretty good at this," Sonic said to himself as he ate the cupcake and read the hint,

_Seventh clue: _

_What is the beginning of eternity _

_The end of time and space _

_The beginning of every end _

_And the end of every place?_

"Some kind of super being? Ha ha ha…" Sonic read the clue over again, "Easy one; the letter 'E'. Must be that old 'Super Smash Brothers Alphabet' thing we did for that children's carnival…I wonder where that poster is…"

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow dashed back from the window before Sonic saw him, "He's on the seventh clue now!"

"After only fifteen minutes? He's on a roll! We'd better get this piñata set up!" Pit grabbed another handful of candy, "Help me out, will you?"

XXXXXXXXX

"At least they made that thing easy to find…" Sonic now had a party horn and a plastic bag to carry the birthday junk in, "Next clue…"

_Eighth clue: _

_If you were running a race _

_And you passed the person in second place _

_What place would you be in now?_

"First, wouldn't I? Sounds like a prize thing…perhaps the trophy room?" Sonic ran to the second floor and found a birthday cracker and the next clue taped to the door,

_Ninth clue:_

_It's second, silly._

_You thought first, didn't you Sonic?  
_

_Well, you passed the guy in second place, not first._

_You can't be in first because I'm in first! Ha ha ha!_

_Shadow_

"Jerk…" Sonic mumbled. The rest of the clue read,

_Alright, here's the clue for you._

_I can guess how many times a Brawler will fall in any Brawl before the match starts, and you can too._

_It may seem hard, but it's easier than you think. Where's the answer? _

"I'm going to punch Shadow if I ever figure this out…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Sonic's been going at this for almost half an hour…I wonder how far he's gotten…" Lucas handed another balloon to Ness.

"Well, the way he's going I'd say the eleventh or twelfth…we'd better get these things up in a hurry!" Ness added the balloon to the bunch of the tree branch, "There we go. Hand me that marker, will you? I want to write something on these things…"

XXXXXXXXX

"It's zero! Because the match hasn't started yet, no one has fallen! Ack!" Sonic face palmed, "Stupid play on words…"

Sonic looked up, "But wait…zero? Where I am supposed to find that? It's not like the rooms are numbered or anything…oh wait, the scoreboard in the auditorium…these guys are really having fun with me."

This time the birthday hedgehog received a 'Happy Birthday' ribbon and the next clue,

_Tenth clue:_

_My life can be measured in hours _

_I serve by being devoured _

_Thin, I am quick _

_Fat, I am slow _

_Wind is my foe _

_What am I?_

"An hour glass? No, that doesn't make any sense…a watch? No…a match? But they're all the same size and burn too quickly…oh, a candle! Those candles on the fireplace mantle downstairs in the living room! That must be it!"

This time the reward was a birthday candle. "Ten down, seven to go!"

_Eleventh clue: _

_Read this riddle carefully Sonic, for it's about you. _

_What does Mephiles never see _

_The universe rarely see _

_But we see every day?_

"It's about me? I'm around pretty often…and Mephiles can see me perfectly fine…" Sonic shuddered at the thought. "What's different between the three groups? Mephiles sees me so low, while everyone else…"

Sonic closed his eyes and whispered, "That's it. Mephiles sees himself above me, most of society thinks they're under me…but everyone here sees me as an equal." Sonic opened his eyes again and went to the next hiding spot.

XXXXXXXXX

"Do you think Sonic saw you guys flying over earlier?" Link asked Shadow while the two hoisted the piñata into place. Because there were so many guests, the piñata was enormous. Just out of curiosity somebody weighed it with the candy inside, and everyone was surprised to find out it weighed thirty pounds.

"I don't think so…and the plane is well hidden. I'm sure if he did he'd have come running. It's been forty minutes now…Sonic should almost be through with that hunt." Shadow jumped down from the tree and pushed the piñata, "This will be fun…"

"When my next birthday comes around, I want a piñata, but instead of using a bat to hit it I want to use my sword." Link poked the confetti covered shape, "One clean hit and this thing would be a goner."

"The only downside would be if you missed you'd take off someone's head," Shadow laughed and gave the piñata a good whack. It went flying up, and then when Shadow turned around reply to Samus it nailed him in the back of the head.

Link and Samus burst out laughing while Shadow growled, "Even when you're a piñata, Eggman, you're as annoying as ever!"

The piñata, in the shape of Eggman's head, twirled around and seemed to grin at the black hedgehog.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic went back to the main entrance of the Base and looked at the Brawler's trophies along the wall. Next to his regular trophy were a light-up pen and another clue.

_Twelfth clue: _

_I make you weak at the worst of all times _

_I may make you get hurt, I may keep you fine. _

_I make your hands sweat and your heart grow cold _

_I visit the meek, but seldom the bold _

_What am I?_

"Fear," Sonic whispered, "But where would I find that?"

Sonic looked around the room, and then his eyes went to the stairway. "No," Sonic whimpered, "Why'd they have to hide it there?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Do you think Sonic has caught on to the last seven riddles' theme?" Pichu asked, clamping down another cake-shaped clip onto the tablecloth so it wouldn't blow away.

"I'd say so…he's pretty smart. I hope he's not too mad at us for doing so…" Marth ducked underneath the table in order to straighten out the leg, "I wonder when he'll be finished?"

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic gulped, and his hand shook as he reached for the doorknob. They hid the next clue in his room…his old room that contained all of those dark memories and horrors. Sonic jumped back once he opened the door, but nobody reached out to grab him. On his old bed was a small piece of paper and another plastic birthday crown. He ran in, not wanting to see anything, grabbed the clue, ran back out and shut the door before dashing down the hallway in a matter of seconds. Sonic's heart was pounding while he unfolded the paper.

_Thirteenth clue: _

_When you have it, you want to share it. _

_Once you share it, you no longer have it. _

_It covers what's real _

_And hides what's true _

_But sometimes it brings out the courage in you. _

_What is it?_

"I've heard something like this before…" Sonic closed his eyes and thought, "The answer is a secret…in my case, lying about having a dark secret. But I never gained courage from that – heck, it made me scared of everything. Well, at least I get to do this in daylight; otherwise I wouldn't want to solve these riddles…"

Sonic took a closer look at the paper, "Wait a minute; this is Tails' handwriting. What secret would he know that – oh yeah, the cutting…" Sonic sighed, "Hopefully the Brawlers still don't know about that…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Sorry Master Hand; I have no idea on how to change Sonic's mind. Not only has he never acted this way before, he's also stubborn. I can see him coming back to the Base at some point, but…I don't know…" Tails sighed and swished his tails nervously back and forth. The hand looked pretty threatening up close.

"Alright…it's ok…I just wish I could make it up to him!" Master Hand became limp. Tails understood that this meant the hand was sad; Sonic had told him all about 'Hand Speak', as the Brawlers so affectionately called it.

"You're doing a great job with this party…besides; it wasn't your fault that everything happened! Sonic's good at keeping secrets." Tails patted the hand on the thumb.

"If only I paid more attention to him…I feel so horrible for having him suffer for so long!" Master Hand floated a little higher again.

"We can't change the past…what's happened has happened. Sonic's recovering…I'm sure he will want to come back in time. He really loves it here."

"I sure hope so…" Master Hand floated off, and Tails was called over to help mix punch.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic found a package of birthday stickers along with his next hint inside the cutlery drawer in the kitchen. Sonic winced and slammed the drawer shut before reading the next clue.

_Fourteenth clue: _

_Some will use me while others will not _

_Some have remembered, while others have forgot _

_For profit or gain, I'm used expertly _

_I can't be picked off the ground or tossed into the sea _

_I'm only gained from patience and time _

_Can you unravel this rhyme?_

"The further I get in, the deeper these riddles get. Let's see here…experts, gained, time…some don't use it…oh, knowledge! But I was already in the library…" Sonic leaned against the counter, "So where could I go…" It took a few minutes before Sonic decided it must be in Master Hand's office, where the Base's most powerful computer was.

Again, he was right. This time the reward was inflatable water wings (Sonic made a mental note to hit the Brawler who thought of that gift, along with Shadow) and another clue.

_Fifteenth clue: _

_Until I am measured I am not known _

_Yet how you will miss me when I have flown. _

_What am I?_

"At least that one is easy…time! The next one must be near the huge clock in the dining room." Sonic smiled when he read the clue again, "Number fifteen! I only have two left!"

The clue was taped right onto the clock, which was about twenty feet off the ground, but it was easy for Sonic to run up and down the wall. Pit probably placed this one here, along with a small sack of gummy candy.

Sonic opened the bag and ate a couple of bears and whales before closing it and then reading the next clue,

_Sixteenth clue: _

_Look at me. _

_I can bring a smile to your face _

_Tears to your eyes _

_Or another thought to your mind. _

_But, I can't be seen. _

_What am I?_

"_Another_ thought? So the answer is a thought? No, wait…memories. Yes, memories…" Sonic swallowed the candy before running off to the photo gallery on the second floor. Inside the walls were decorated with thousands of snapshots of Brawls and other events, and when they had run out of space tables were put inside and the pictures inside photo frames.

The first pictures everyone saw when they entered were placed on three huge easels; the biggest ones in the room. They were group shots of everyone for the three Smash Brothers tournaments. On the last easel, which held the photo Sonic was in, was a blue digital camera and Sonic's final hint.

_Seventeenth clue: _

_You're almost done, Sonic. This will take you to your goal: _

_I come in darkness, but fill the mind with light _

_I bring enlightenment to some, while gripping others in the hand of fear. _

_With me it can be a journey of inexplicable joy and sorrow. _

_What I will show you will often be unreachable. _

_Journey with me and what you see may haunt you. _

_Come with me and you may never want to return home. _

_Run free with me and you will never know when it will end. _

_What am I?_

"Wow: this one is the hardest, but it's also the longest. I'm actually pretty stumped…I mean, before they were easy or the reward they came with gave me a hint, but now…" Sonic paced back and forth in front of the photographs, "What could it be, and where would I find it? This thing is so complex…I'm guessing it's wherever the party is, but where is that? If it's not inside the Base, and I can't think of a single thing that fits it outside of the Base…"

Sonic looked up, and he gazed at each photo before finally staring at the final one of the Brawl tournament…

XXXXXXXXX

_**Some time ago…**_

"_Sonic, the letter did come today and I brought it back." Sonic ran over to Tails at the door. _

"_Did you read it? What did it say? Am I getting into Super Smash Brothers? Please tell me!" Sonic was nearly jumping up and down in excitement. _

"_Hey, hold on…go sit down. Everyone wants to hear the answer and you know it." Sonic pretended to pout, but returned to Tails' living room where all of his friends were gathered, hoping to hear that Sonic got his wish._

"_It's going to be boring around Angel Island without you to bug me…but you really want this, now don't you?" Knuckles lightly punched Sonic's shoulder._

"_Ever since I heard it was possible for me to get into that tournament, I've thought of nothing else! I'm so excited I can barely sleep! Usually it's just that company's stars that get in…" Sonic sat down on the armrest, "Why did my rights get placed somewhere else? And who the heck decided I would belong to one video game company or another? I don't recall being asked who could make and if I wanted to have video games about me!"_

"_The world works in mysterious ways," Shadow laughed, "But you stand a good chance…where's Tails?"_

"_Right here," the kitsune replied, walking in, "Now everyone be quiet and I'll read out the letter."_

_Sonic was unconsciously holding his breath while Tails opened the envelope and unfolded the fancy paper. It was so agonizingly slow that Sonic was going crazy._

"_Dear Sonic," Tails read, "We regret to inform you that –"_

"_Sonic didn't get in? But he's –" Amy shouted and Tails held up his hand to cut her off. Sonic felt so disappointed, but he wasn't going to let his friends see how upset he really was._

"_Hey, I'm not finished yet." Tails continued, "We regret to inform you that there's been a slight error in the start of the tournament, and it shall commence a week earlier. Therefore you'll need to have everything ready by –"_

"_I got in? I got in?" Sonic interrupted Tails, and the fox sighed, knowing he would never be able to read the entire letter at the moment. He nodded, and Sonic smiled, "I got in!" He grabbed Amy's hands and spun her around, "Amy, I'm going to the Smash Brothers tournament! I'm in!"_

"_We heard you, Sonic! Congratulations!" Tails laughed, "Of course, there's still some things you have to do before going…"_

_Sonic was too busy being congratulated by everyone that he didn't hear Tails until the fox shouted, "Hey Sonic, listen!" _

"_What? What?" Sonic turned around and looked at his friend, "What is it, Tails?"_

"_You have to meet some more requirements before getting in."_

"_So? I can do that."_

"_These include having all of your medical records available…"_

"_You're the one who takes care of that stuff for me!"_

"_Answering a questionnaire and making out a contact list…"_

"_Easy. That'll take me ten minutes tops!"_

"_And the most interesting one – having the ability to swim." Tails couldn't help but snicker at the expression on Sonic's face, "I'm not making it up, Sonic. It's right here in the letter if you want to see."_

"_I have to swim? But I hate water!" Sonic frowned, "Why?"_

"_Some of the stages are going to have water and nobody wants you to drown during the middle of a match, now do they?" _

"_Ugh…that's not going to be fun. Do I really have to?"_

"_I thought this was what you wanted! Come on, are you going to give up?" Knuckles asked._

"_Hell no! I've been dreaming of getting in since I had the chance, and now that I'm in I'll do anything to achieve my dream!" Sonic turned to Tails, "When can I get to the swimming pool?"_

"_Tomorrow, I guess? But I'm not going to be the one teaching you…I don't want to die by being held underwater by my best friend!"_

_Sonic let everyone have a laugh at his expense; he didn't care because he was so happy that he got his wish. He was going to get everything done in time or die trying!_

XXXXXXXXX

"That's the answer to the riddle," Sonic whispered, "My dreams. My dream was to get into the tournament and into Brawls, and if the party isn't in the arena that means…it must be outside, next to it!"

"Everything's set up…where's the birthday hedgehog?" Jigglypuff asked, walking over to Kirby.

"I'm not sure…I hope the riddles weren't too hard…" Kirby looked back towards the front of the Base, "Hey, there he is!"

The two puffballs ran back around the Base and to the back of the arena, and Sonic showed up seconds after. Everyone clapped and called out when the blue hedgehog walked into the party.

Sonic couldn't help but smile when he saw the entire place set up. Everything was done in dark blue, white, and silver. There were two tall trees left, other than the one that had fallen in the storm, and a huge banner had been tied between two of the branches that read, 'Happy 17th Birthday Sonic'. Dozens of balloons had been tied there as well, and streamers hung down from the trees, as well as a piñata, although Sonic couldn't tell what shape it was. There was a barbeque set up, and the smell of hotdogs and hamburgers filled the air. One long picnic table was set up with birthday themed paper plates and cups, and two smaller ones contained pop and chips and candy, as well as a chocolate fountain with fruit to dip into it. There was another small table off to the side that held the giant cake box, although the plastic still covered it. More balloons had been tied to balloon holders and placed around the tables. The balloons had been drawn on, and there were stars and hearts and random faces. Off to the side, set on a picnic blanket was a pile of wrapped and bagged gifts.

"You…you guys did all of this…for me?" Sonic stared in wonder at the place. Shadow ran over and grabbed his hand.

"Of course we did! You deserve it!" Shadow dragged Sonic over to the rest of the group, "Let's eat; I'm starving!"

It was already noon, and nobody had eaten breakfast yet. There was so much talking going on that it was hard to eat anything, because as soon as you took a bite you'd think of something to add to the conversation. Sonic was pleasantly surprised to find his four friends had already been accepted as 'honorary Smashers' and everyone was talking to them like they were old friends.

It took Sonic some time to eat his first chili dog because he was the one being talked to the most. No sooner had he finished then he was dragged off to try the piñata. Sonic burst out laughing when he saw Eggman's head, "You really know how to make me smile, don't you guys?"

"Of course!" Peach tied a blindfold around his eyes while Ness handed the hedgehog his bat, "Come on Sonic; give it your best shot!"

Peach spun Sonic around ten times and then turned him towards the piñata. Sonic took a few cautious steps forward before slowly leaning off to the side.

"Move more to the right, or you're going to miss!" Wolf called out.

Sonic moved over slightly and then took a guess at where the piñata was. The bat made a satisfying whack when he hit the target.

"Nice work! Try again; you get five swings because you're the birthday hedgehog!" Ike called.

Sonic managed to hit the piñata three times, but it was so big that Sonic barely made a dent. He took off the blindfold and handed it to Mario, "You give it a try."

Mario hit it twice, and after him Pichu landed a single hit. Everyone got a chance to hit the target, but the piñata was only barely showing signs of wear.

"I have an idea," Fox said, "Spin me around and I'll fire my blaster at the thing. Maybe that will bring it down…"

"Why not? Go for it!" Peach said while tying on the blindfold.

"I'll be disappointed in you if you miss, Fox!" Falco called. Fox laughed softly, and once they spun him around he pulled out his blaster and fired.

The shot skimmed the top of the piñata and struck the rope, and Eggman's head came crashing to the ground.

"What a shot!" Snake whistled, "You're one sharp shooter."

"But I knocked it down and it still didn't break!" Fox sighed once he took off the blindfold.

"That thing just doesn't die…" Ganondorf shrugged, "Now what?"

Lucario turned to Ness, "Can I have your bat? I know what to do!"

Ness shrugged and handed the Pokémon his bat, and with a battle cry Lucario ran over to the piñata and smashed the cardboard right in. He made a good sized hole, and now the candy was showing.

"We might as well do it that way!" Red ran over to the piñata and stomped on it, ripping the cardboard even further. Soon enough everyone was beating the thing to death and in a matter of minutes the piñata was all but destroyed and candy was everywhere.

"I love sour watermelons!" Kirby picked up a package, "They're my favorite candy!"

"Who bought all of this? They picked out some great stuff!" Lucas looked at the item in his hand, "Is this play dough?"

"They were having a sale on little containers of play dough…and we decided it'd be a great thing to have in the piñata! There's a bunch of random toys in there too," Pikachu replied, blowing on a red whistle.

"Certainly makes it more interesting," Nana replied, blowing bubbles with the container of bubble solution she picked up.

Master Hand handed out treat bags for everyone to put their birthday junk in. At least Master Hand had written everyone's name on a bag, otherwise they'd all be mixed up in an instant!

"Let's play, 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey', shall we?" Sonic followed Luigi's pointing to a picture of a donkey taped to one of the tree trunks.

"I haven't played that game since I was like…what, five?" Sonic laughed, "And everyone was terrible at it. Maybe now we'll do better since we have better coordination."

"Good luck birthday boy; you're up first!" The blindfold was put around Sonic's eyes again, and someone handed him a tail sticker. After being spun around and pushed forward, Sonic managed to place his tail, marked with a number one, pretty close to where it was supposed to be.

"If you were at a children's party that would be a guaranteed win!" Mewtwo nodded at Sonic when Sonic came back to join the group.

"I'm not so sure anymore though…" Sonic shrugged.

For some time he was winning, but then Pikachu managed to get it slightly down, so he was winning. Then Peach was the closest, but finally it surprised everyone when Squirtle hit the outline of the tail dead center for a perfect win.

"We have a winner!" Master Hand handed the water Pokémon a stuffed hedgehog.

"Good work Squirtle!" Red patted his Pokémon on the head.

"Squirtle Squirtle!" Squirtle replied, hugging his new toy.

"Sonic, do you want to open your gifts now?" Master Hand turned to the blue hedgehog.

"Sure! I'm excited to see what's wrapped up over there!" Everyone went to grab their gift and made a circle.

"Spin the bottle to decide," Crazy Hand said, placing an empty soda bottle in the center of the circle.

Sonic moved to the center and spun the bottle. It rotated a few times before stopping on Popo and Nana.

"Happy birthday Sonic," Popo said while Nana handed the hedgehog the gift and card.

"Thanks guys!" Written right on the snowman packaging was 'Happy birthday Sonic! From the Ice Climbers'. Inside was a blanket; dark blue with silver stars.

"That's soft!" Amy said, petting the blanket.

"We had it specially made just for you," Nana said, winking at Sonic, "So you'd better like it!"

"I love it! Thank you!"

"You need a hug! Come here!" Popo and Nana embraced Sonic, and the hedgehog hugged them back.

Afterwards, Sonic spun the bottle again and landed on Snake. "This is all I've got for you," Snake said, handing Sonic an orange envelope.

"Fine by me," Sonic replied, opening the envelope and pulling out a store bought card.

"Read the card out loud!" Kirby called.

"Alright…Ok, so I'm standing in line to get you a birthday card and the line is like seven billion people long and going so slow because the only thing the dumb teenage boy working the register is thinking about is the dumb teenage girl working the other register, and some old lady starts looking through her purse for exact change like she's going to win some, 'exact change trophy', and this guy starts ranting on about how the item he bought was on sale and I really hope you like this card…"

Sonic opened the card, and over the noise of sirens that came from the card he finished, "Because I stole it. Happy seventeenth birthday Sonic." The sounds ended with, 'Hey you get back here with that card!'

"That's awesome! Where'd you find that card?" Roy turned to Snake.

Snake shrugged, "Just looking and saw it. I was tempted to actually steal it so it would make more sense, but hey…do you like the gift, Sonic?"

"Huh?" Sonic looked down, and he saw that a bunch of certificates had fallen onto his lap, "Wow! Three fifty-dollar gift certificates to the movies? Thanks Snake!"

"No problem…"

Sonic spun the bottle again, and this time it landed on Pikachu.

"Now you get one of Pikachu's famous birthday cards!" Meta Knight called, and everyone laughed. Pikachu was known to make his cards in less than five minutes and they never made any sense.

"Awesome!" Sonic took the lightning themed package from the Pokémon and read the card attached to it. As always, it was just a bunch of pieces of paper folded together and had random drawings on them, telling a story.

"Ok, so I'm riding my hovercat through Wal-mart when I see Sonic trying to fend off zombies. I grab a battle axe and join Sonic in the fight. Afterwards we run outside to the nearest Batmobile and drive around the town, running over zombies and then barrel rolling off of a cliff. We land in a jungle and draw circles around an elephant to befriend it. Then we ride away into the sunset…random space filler?"

"I had one page too many so I drew that weird blob in," Pikachu grinned.

"Oh…happy birthday Sonic with lots of love from Pikachu."

"Yay! Now open the gift!" Pikachu pushed the parcel closer, "Well?"

"Of course!" Sonic opened the package, "You got me a plant?"

"It's a purple tulip…and I have named it Taco!"

"'Taco'? Should I even ask?"

As one, Kirby, Meta Knight, Pit and Link shouted, "No!"

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic went through all of the gifts, loving every one of them. The most interesting had to be the sky-diving lessons from Crazy Hand (Sonic had to promise he'd come back alive and well after them, and from Master Hand's expression everyone knew Master Hand had no idea what his brother had been planning), but he also received video games, money and a hot air balloon ride, among other things.

"Last gift, Sonic…you get to open this one with your teeth!" Sonic's eyes got wide when he saw the last gift was completely duct-taped together.

"Oh hell no…I'll never be able to open that!"

Everyone laughed at Sonic's expression, and Sonic stuck out his tongue at Wario when he realized he had been tricked.

"Of course it's just a joke…here's your real gift." Wario pushed a box wrapped in plain green wrapping paper over to Sonic, and the hedgehog ripped the paper off with his teeth. Inside was a plain cardboard box, and Sonic opened it up and dug through the packing peanuts to get at his gift. He lifted it out, and everyone gasped.

It was a music globe, shining emerald green and ocean blue. The base of the globe was swirling marble of the two colors, which curled up to the top and fanned out like a flower. The glass globe at the top had a slightly blue tinge, and contained…himself?

"I was looking throughout the mall and this one store had music globes dedicated to the Brawlers…when I saw yours, I thought you might like it, and I was stumped on gift ideas anyways." Wario looked up at Sonic, "Well?"

"It's beautiful…thank you. I don't know what to say…thank you." Sonic turned the music globe around, looking at it all from sides, "I really like it. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Wario replied.

"Alright, everyone move together; I'm taking a group photo!" Master Hand held up a camera, "Go, everyone!"

In a few minutes everyone crowded together and Master Hand snapped a few pictures, "Good."

"Use my camera too!" Sonic called, reaching into his treat bag and tossing Master Hand his reward.

"Alright." The hand gave the camera back to Sonic after he took a few photos, "There you go."

"It's ready!" Crazy Hand waved once he came around the Base.

"What's ready?" Sonic asked.

Master Hand laughed, "This is the one thing Crazy and I agreed on for your gift…"

"Hey, what's that?" Link asked, pointing at the sky. Everyone followed his gaze to see that two tall metal poles had suddenly appeared on the other side of the Base.

"What the hell?" Wolf asked.

"You guys will see…come on!" Master Hand led everyone around the Base, and they were shocked to see an amusement park ride had been set up right in front of the Base – the slingshot ride, to be exact.

"What did you guys exactly do?" Donkey Kong stared at the enormous ride.

"Rented it! You'd be surprised how cheap it is to get one of these things…and learn how to run it!" Master Hand moved over to Crazy Hand, who was inspecting the cables.

"So we actually get to ride this thing?" Olimar asked, looking up at the platform on which the cart was sitting.

"Yes! And Sonic gets the first ride of course…unless he doesn't want to."

"Are you kidding me? Of course I want to ride it! How many does it fit?" Sonic dashed up to the slingshot.

"Two per ride. Everyone will get a chance, and we have it until morning, so there's plenty of time to ride. It only takes one point six seconds to reach maximum height, so it's quick." Master Hand gestured to the stairway, "Take a friend and climb on up, and we'll launch you over a hundred feet into the sky!"

"Cool!" Sonic looked back at the group, "Although, I don't know who to pick…"

"Can I come, Sonic?" Sonic blinked in shock to see Tails step forward, "It looks like fun."

"You want to come?"

"Why would I ever miss this chance? Move it!" Sonic easily caught up to Tails and sat beside him in the metal ball. Master Hand and Crazy Hand quickly strapped the two in, and then Master Hand went to the control panel while Crazy Hand locked the ball into place. The rest of the Brawlers gathered around to watch them go.

"Have fun!"

"Try not to get sick!"

"Are you guys going to scream?"

"Alright everyone – count down time! Ten, nine…" Master Hand started, and everyone joined in, "…three, two one!"

The ball was shot into the air, and Sonic and Tails looked at each other, laughing and breathless. The spun around upside down and twisted around.

"This is awesome!" Sonic yelled.

"That was so much fun! We have to go again!" Tails laughed.

When they were brought back down, everyone saw how happy the two were and then quickly grabbed a partner.

Eventually what happened was that those still waiting in line started a game of tag while the next few groups in line waited at the actual ride. The hours passed quickly, and by nightfall everyone was hungry again; especially Sonic who basically only had candy and one chili dog to sustain him throughout the entire day.

"Cake time…sit here, Sonic." Master Hand led Sonic to the head of the picnic table where another chair had placed for him to sit on. Crazy Hand moved over to the cake box, lifted off the plastic and then lit all seventeen candles.

"Come on everyone! Let's hear the song! Happy birthday to you…" Crazy Hand started off the song while carrying the cake.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Sonic! Happy birthday to you!" Everyone cheered and clapped at the end of the song as Crazy Hand placed the cake in front of Sonic.

Sonic looked at the picture. It was himself as super Sonic against a black background, all done in icing along with the seven Chaos emeralds. The black curling icing as the border was decorated with gold sprinkles. The candles were the only source of light as night had fallen, making the whole place quite dark.

"That's an awesome cake," Sonic said softly, snapping a picture with his camera, "Thanks everyone."

"Make a wish, Sonic," Master Hand whispered.

Sonic looked around at everyone's faces, slightly illuminated by the candle light. They were his friends…his very best friends. Sonic took a deep breath, closed his eyes, made his wish and blew out the candles.

"You've got a girlfriend!" Roy teased. Sonic opened his eyes and saw that one of the candles remained lit.

"He has two! Look!" Tails pointed to another candle that was still tinted red, and slowly it became a flame once more.

"A girlfriend and a boyfriend," Shadow teased. He caught Sonic looking at him and winked.

"Sure, why not," Sonic replied. He blew out the two remaining candles.

"Off with your head!" Crazy Hand held up a huge knife and cut off a piece of cake where Sonic's head was, and he put it on a plate and handed it to Sonic.

"Thanks," Sonic replied, and he took a bite, "Mm…this is really good!"

XXXXXXXXX

The next two hours were spent eating supper, cake and talking. "I wonder if birthdays are really meant for the person to completely indulge and be selfish all day long," Marth pondered while he reached for another handful of chips.

"In some places people don't celebrate birthdays; they celebrate 'name days', basically whenever this saint or something was born that had your name you celebrated that day as your birthday," Zelda replied as she filled her cup again.

"I can't remember if this was for birthdays or not, but I recall hearing about this thing where the person was whipped with willow branches," Bowser said while eating another hotdog.

"I know of a tradition where the birthday person is spanked one time for each year," Captain Falcon added. Everyone turned to look at Sonic.

"Don't you guys even think about it!" Sonic crossed his arms and glared at them, and everyone laughed.

"We're just teasing," Lucario said.

"You guys certainly looked suspicious to me…"

"We're not that mean!" Yoshi giggled and ate another gummy worm.

"I know…" Sonic cut himself another slice of cake and started to eat it.

"Sonic, I know this is kind of awkward to talk about, but please tell me…" Sonic turned around with cake around his lips to face Master Hand, "Sonic, will you ever return to the Base?"

"Sonic swallowed his mouthful and took a deep breath, "I think so, Master Hand. Not for some time…but I'm aiming for the end of August."

"So you'll come back?"

"I hope I can. I really do like it here. And of course I'll come and visit."

"Thank you Sonic," Master Hand whispered, hugging the blue hedgehog, "I promise you that you'll be safe here. Have a happy birthday, Sonic."

"I already am," Sonic replied.

It was midnight when the party was over. It took some work to get all of the presents in the plane, and afterwards there were all of the goodbyes to deal with.

"I'll miss you Sonic," Ike said, giving the blue hedgehog a hug.

"I'll come and visit soon…I promise," Sonic replied.

"I think I'm going to see a therapist as well, Sonic. If it's helped you, it should help me out too," Pit whispered to Sonic.

"Go for it, Pit. And you can call me if you ever need to talk." Pit hugged Sonic as well, "See you, Sonic."

"Bye, Pit." Sonic then moved onto Mario, his last goodbye, "Thanks Mario…it must have been hard for you to tell me about what happened," Sonic whispered.

"It was, but it's alright. I hope you'll feel much better soon." Mario embraced Sonic, "I'll be looking forward to our next match, Sonic."

"It'll be awhile, but it's not over yet. I'll be back." After saying goodbye to everyone, Sonic jumped onto the wing of the plane for the flight back home.

"Goodbye everyone! See you soon! Bye!" Everyone was still waving when Tails took off.

"That was a great party," Amy said once they were in the air.

"And there's another one tomorrow…I just hope we aren't too exhausted by then," Shadow replied.

"Come to think of it, what did you wish for, Sonic?" Knuckles asked when they were flying over the ocean on their home world.

"If I tell you it won't come true," Sonic replied.

"Oh, right…well, I hope it does. It's not like you wished the world would blow up or something."

"Maybe…"

"Hey!"

The two friends laughed, and then Sonic looked out onto the horizon. He closed his eyes and thought, _"I wished that I would be able to defeat Mephiles, physically and mentally once and for all."_

Sonic opened his eyes again and whispered, "Look out Mephiles; you won't defeat me and take over my world…because I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

_**Oh yes: I don't own any characters or products mentioned in this story, BUT I do take credit for my personal design of the Base and full credit for that cuff. Sure it only took me until the end of the story to write the disclaimer, but it's here now!**_

_**As well, I'm tired and got lazy in correcting my work, so if this chapter seems a little choppier than the rest I'm sorry. At least I updated!**_


	34. Epilogue

**About two months later…**

"I'm not sure what Mephiles wants," Silver said, looking at Sonic, "I remember only a little from that time…"

"So what happened before is in this game, right?" Sonic looked at video game Silver had given him, "I wonder why I've never heard of it before…"

Silver shrugged, "Play it if you want. I haven't gotten very far in it myself."

"Maybe at some point," Sonic dropped the box onto his bed, "I just want to defeat Mephiles now."

"Are you sure he said Blaze and I would never go back to the future?" Silver went to the window and looked outside, "Not like I'd really want to go back…it seems pretty nice here."

"You can stay…you guys have been hanging around here for what, a month now?"

"A month and a half; it's almost September…that reminds me of something I was going to ask you. What's the Base?"

"Huh?" Sonic asked, looking up from the game cover. Silver had sat on the window sill and was looking at Sonic.

"The Base…Tails was talking about you going back there soon?"

"Oh, that…yeah…it's a place that hosts a fighting tournament and I was in it for a while."

"Why did you leave? Was it bad?"

"No; I loved it. It's just that…bad things happened to me."

"Oh." Silver slipped off the window sill and walked over to Sonic by the bed, "What kind of things?"

"Let's just say that Mephiles got his revenge on me there in a…disturbing way."

"He raped you, didn't he?"

"What?" Sonic looked up at Silver in shock, "How did you…?"

"Guess? Because he's raped me too."

Sonic couldn't help but stare at the silver hedgehog as he sat down on the bed, "Mephiles always used sex as his revenge tool. He would always rape young ones…after Blaze and I went back to the future some time ago, he came after her. I offered my body up instead because at least I couldn't get pregnant."

"What the fuck…you're joking." Silver shook his head. "I just can't believe it. He's the most disgusting person…" Sonic snarled, "I'm going to get him if it's the last thing I do!"

"Just be careful, Sonic. Mephiles doesn't go down so easily."

"I don't care! I'll get him…how many lives could he have possibly harmed because of his vile ways?"

"I'm not so sure about that, but I do know Mephiles considers you his latest and greatest prize."

"Well, I'd better be the last of his prizes! When do you think he'll be ready?"

"He takes a lot of time planning to make sure nothing can backfire…I wouldn't say until November."

"Hmm…" Sonic got off of the bed and began pacing, "I guess I could go Brawl a bit more before he returns…but what if he comes early and I'm not here?"

"With Blaze and me helping out, Shadow could run and fetch you in just a matter of minutes. We could hold him back until you arrive."

"I guess so…" Sonic looked at one of his shelves, filled with Super Smash Brothers trophies and photos, "I do kind of miss it…" Sonic turned back to Silver, "I hate to ask, but…when did Mephiles rape you?"

"A few years ago, my time…hard to say because of the whole time difference."

"But you stood in for Blaze…that was very brave of you."

"What about you? Why did you take it?"

Sonic shook his head, "I only did it for myself. Kind of selfish."

"At least nobody else was hurt, or being threatened."

"I guess so…" Sonic looked out the window, and then back at Silver, "Guess we have more in common than I thought."

"It's a horrible thing to have in common." Silver stood up, "Let's go outside, shall we? This is getting too depressing. It's over for both of us; I've healed and you're healing. Let's forget our pain and have some fun."

"Good idea." Sonic and Silver went outside of Tails' house and walked side by side down to the beach, where everyone else was currently enjoying the final rays of summer.

"What took you guys so long?" Amy called out to the two hedgehogs from where she was building a sandcastle with Cream.

"Just planning for the future, you could say," Sonic replied, walking over, "Hey, nice castle."

"Thank you," Cream replied, adding another tower, "Say, do you still have Galaxy?"

"Of course. He sleeps beside me every night."

"Hey Sonic, up for a swim?" Sonic looked out at the water to see Shadow waving at him, "Well?"

"You know I hate water!" Sonic called back.

"Come on, you coward! Are you scared that I'll beat you in a swimming race?"

"You probably will!"

"Aw, and you'll have your title taking away by me, the new fastest thing alive! Ha!"

"Ok, you're on!" Sonic dashed down to the water's edge, walked in until the water came up to his chest, then took a deep breath before letting his legs lift off the bottom and start kicking and paddling.

"That's it! Come here, Sonic!" Shadow was about ten meters away, swimming slowly backwards and waving to Sonic.

Sonic doubled his pace and caught up to Shadow, who then switched around to a front crawl, "First one to that buoy over there wins, alright?"

"Fine…"

"Ready, set, go!"

The buoy wasn't that far from shore, only about fifty meters, but for someone swimming in a race and hating water it seemed like fifty miles. Once Sonic reached the buoy he held onto it for dear life, panting.

"It seems to be a tie," Shadow said, holding onto the buoy with one hand, "Shall we race back?"

"No! I'm done with swimming for today."

Shadow laughed, "Wimp."

"I'll be a wimp if it means that I don't have to swim again."

"I'm not carrying you back, buddy. You'll have to swim."

"I meant after this!"

"I know, I know…" Shadow let go of the buoy and began treading water, "Come on, it's not that far!"

Sonic sighed, let go and then began to swim back; Shadow easily keeping pace beside him. Amy and Cream cheered when Sonic came back onto the beach.

"And to just think that a year ago you would have run away from that challenge!" Tails waved to everyone, just returning from a test flight.

"I should run away more often…" Sonic panted, "Any towels around here?"

"Here you go," Silver walked over to Sonic and Shadow, handing each a towel and then joining Blaze again by the cooler.

Blaze was lying down on a towel with her eyes closed, and Silver sat down on another towel beside her. "Hey, where's that echidna? Wasn't he supposed to join us?" Blaze asked, opening her eyes and sitting up.

"Still guarding the rock of his, I'd guess. He's forgetful," Shadow replied.

"He's a knucklehead," Sonic corrected.

"Who are you calling a knucklehead?"

"Oh, shoot…" Sonic turned around and saw Knuckles walking towards him, "I didn't say anything!"

"Sure you did…" Knuckles smiled at Sonic, "And I know how to get revenge…" He grabbed Sonic and began to walk towards the ocean with the hedgehog in a fireman's carry.

"Put me down!" Sonic shouted, trying to kick Knuckles. Shadow wasn't any help; he just burst out laughing.

"I don't think so…" Knuckles ignored Sonic pounding at his back and walked into the water. Once he was deep enough he shifted Sonic to the front and threw the hedgehog into the ocean.

Sonic swam up to the surface, spitting out water, "That was mean!"

Knuckles started to laugh, "That was fair!" He walked back to the shore before Sonic could reach him.

"What took you so long to get here?" Shadow asked when Knuckles arrived. Shadow had decided to simply lie back on the sand and watch the show.

"I was busy, you know. I don't leave Angel Island all of the time, and now that Sonic has healed a lot I'm not needed around."

"Busy doing what? Guarding that emerald of yours? Or…did you listen to that fortune teller we saw at the fair and speak to Rouge?" Sonic had finally swum back to shore and came up behind Knuckles.

Knuckles blushed slightly before turning to Sonic, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, so Knuckles is in love? Aw, how cute!" Sonic laughed and dashed away to Tails and Silver, who were building another castle next to Amy's and Cream's.

"Get back here! I'm going to toss you out to sea!" Knuckles chased Sonic around the two castles, while everyone just looked on, laughing.

XXXXXXXXX

Far away, in another time and place, Mephiles studied his crystal ball. You would think they were all just fakes and tricks, but no…some of these things actually worked. He nodded knowingly when he saw Silver and Blaze had already made friends with Sonic and the rest. He suspected as much, which was why he was planning around that.

The picture disappeared from the crystal ball, and Mephiles pushed his chair back and stood up. He walked out of the dark purple crystal castle to the balcony. From here he could see the strange purple sky and ash-covered ground for miles. Two-headed birds flew above, cawing and screeching. The only plants were a few blackened trees.

"Silver has got it…November…I should be ready by then." Mephiles looked down at his arm, the skin starting to wrinkle and the fur starting to dull. He was using too much magic…it was taking a toll on his body. He'd have to wait and rest before attacking.

"At least I won't be bothered anymore by those blasted hedgehogs…I'll be harder to beat this time, Sonic." Mephiles closed his eyes, _"I've already had fun with the blue hedgehog and the silver one…although it was different for Silver. Maybe the black one will be a nice addition to my list. Or better yet, all of them…I can see that now; being able to fuck around with a different angel every night…"_ Mephiles opened his eyes and grinned. Yes; once he conquered that world, he wouldn't kill them like he originally planned – he'd take them captive and have some fun.

"But then that means I won't be able to use that machine…" Mephiles sighed, and then walked back into the castle to revise his plans. He was used to doing so. He always made sure he would get what he wanted and that everything would go flawlessly.

Or at least, it would in theory.

XXXXXXXXX

"Careful Sonic, or you'll drop all of the ice cream!" Amy sighed as she watched Sonic try to balance all eight ice cream cones in his arms.

"I can do it…I can do it!" Amy quickly stepped close and grabbed two cones that were about to drop, "Ok, maybe I can't…"

"Let me take some," Amy said, and Sonic handed her two more cones. Together they began to walk back to the beach, having retrieved the frozen treats from Tails' freezer.

"Mm…I love rocky road ice cream," Sonic sighed, licking some of his cone.

Amy giggled, "If they made chili dog flavored, you'd be set for life!"

"Do you think they would? I wonder how that would taste…" Sonic pondered, "Probably not very good, though."

"I'll stick with regular flavors like chocolate. You can be the daring one."

Sonic laughed, "I think I will too…an ice cream flavor like that would be too good to be true!"

Amy smiled at seeing Sonic so happy again. From time to time he still had nightmares, but the pain was fading away. He managed to find the courage to fight again; Eggman had launched a minor attack to test out a new robot, and once Sonic defeated him the blue hedgehog ran up and gave the scientist a hug (confounding Eggman to no end) before running off again. At least Sonic was getting back to normal; not too soon considering Mephiles could attack at any time…

Sonic tipped his head to the side, looking at Amy, "Is there something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no…just thinking."

"About me?"

Amy lightly blushed, "Maybe…"

Sonic gave Amy a small smile, "I'm glad you're still my friend, Amy. I was afraid that after you found out what happened to me…"

Amy cut him off, "I would never abandon you when you need me the most. I'm just glad I was able to help you out."

"Yeah…you really have...that birthday party was awesome…"

By now the two hedgehogs had reached the beach, and Blaze came up to them, "It's about time you two got back! I couldn't wait for my ice cream!"

"Here you are," Sonic said, handing Blaze a strawberry cone, "I'll go hand the rest of mine out." He went back to the sandcastles to hand Tails his.

Amy didn't even realize she was watching Sonic until Blaze poked her shoulder, "He's kind of cute, isn't he?"

"Huh? You mean Sonic?"

"Of course I do! He's a real sweetheart…" Sonic was sitting next to Shadow now, both of them eating their ice cream and whispering about something.

"Everyone here has been so kind…although, it kind of makes me wonder why Mephiles wanted us to make friends with the rest of you…" Blaze thought for about a minute and then shrugged, "Ah, well, with all of us working together it should be easy for us to beat him. Say, if you're not going to hand those ice creams out, want me to?"

"Oh, sure…" Amy handed Silver's and Knuckles' ice creams over to Blaze, and then went over to Cream to hand the rabbit hers. Cream shared the treat with Cheese, while Amy started thinking about Sonic again, blushing slightly.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey, do you guys think that Sonic will come back soon?" Pikachu asked, running up to three puffballs.

"It's only been a few weeks…it might take longer before he feels comfortable here again," Jigglypuff shrugged.

"I just hope he's forgiven Wario…that guy is taking it pretty hard," Meta Knight replied.

"But it wasn't Wario's fault…I guess that's why he's another Brawler in therapy," Kirby sighed.

"Whatever works, as long as everything gets back to normal," Jigglypuff said, "Just because you're in therapy doesn't make you crazy."

"It prevents you from going crazy," Kirby replied.

"Well, whenever Sonic decides to return I'm sure he'll let us know," Meta Knight said.

"Yeah…I just hope it's soon. I know he's talked to us and all, but I'd like to have him back again…" Pikachu pondered, "I wonder if he's even thought about returning yet?"

XXXXXXXXX

"So you've decided…you're leaving the day after tomorrow." Sonic looked at his new lover. The two of them had said goodnight to everyone else and walked a little ways down the beach before sitting on the sand to stargaze. It had taken some time for Sonic to sort out his feelings…but once he did, Dr. Nam said it should be ok for him to tell everyone how he felt. That was two weeks ago…and so far, everything was going smoothly.

"I know you'll do alright there. You're a good fighter." The other hedgehog kissed Sonic on the cheek.

"Thanks…" Sonic grabbed his lover's hand, "I'll be back soon, though, when Mephiles comes. He's going to pay for everything he's done…"

"Is revenge really what you're going after him for?"

"Partly that…and partly because he wants to take over the world. It's my job to save it, you know?"

"Hopefully part of you wants him gone so he'll never hurt anyone ever again."

"Of course," Sonic replied, "Mephiles has hurt too many people…it's going to end." Sonic's eyes were flashing with rage.

"Hey now…don't get too upset. I have a little departing gift for you…" Sonic's anger was replaced by passion as his lover drew him in for a long kiss.

XXXXXXXXX

Master Hand was working late at night on his computer when a little icon popped up, saying he just received a new email. He minimized the project he was currently working on and checked the new message.

_Hey Master Hand!_

_Things are going pretty well for me at home, so I decided I'd come back to Brawl again for a while. I have some things to sort out first, so it'll take me two days to come, and because of Mephiles' threat, I'll need to return home when he attacks. But it's going to take him a long while to plan out everything, so I have a few free months and I want to spend them at the Base. I'm looking forward to Brawling again! _

_Pass this on to everyone else, will you? And tell them to sign me up for a few Brawls as a surprise. I haven't lost my skill from a few weeks' rest, so they'd better be ready for me!_

_I'll see you all soon!_

_Sonic the Hedgehog_

_P.S. I'm alright with Wario now. Tell him I don't hate him anymore – he doesn't deserve to be blamed any more than I do for what happened. _

"Sonic's coming back?" Master Hand rubbed Ian's ears, not caring that the cat had somehow gotten into his office, "Hear that, kitty? Sonic's coming back!"

Master Hand left the message on screen in his excitement and went to wake Crazy Hand to tell him the good news. The Brawlers could be told in the morning, and he was sure they'd be just as excited as he was.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic's smile was lit up by the glowing screen of his laptop, the only light in his dark bedroom. He had sent off an email to Master Hand after his lovemaking session. Dr. Nam had warned him that having sex this soon may not be a good idea – he could have flashbacks of being raped or nightmares afterwards. But the two hedgehogs had already done it three times now, and Sonic didn't feel a sting of pain after they were through. It was a nice change; now he actually felt clean again, and not used.

Sonic looked over at his sleeping lover, who was turned away from him. Sonic ran his hand through his love's quills and softly sighed. Then he shut down the laptop and placed it on the side table before going under the covers again and moving closer to his sweetheart. He kissed his lover's cheek and whispered, "I love you."

Sonic laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. He smiled to himself when he heard his lover roll over and whisper into his ear, "I love you too."

Sonic let himself be pulled close and kissed again, no longer scared of such actions. No matter what dark deed Mephiles tried to commit, they would be ready to fight alongside everyone else and defend their home when the time came. But for now, the two hedgehogs simply cuddled together and fell asleep.

_**That's it! It's done! And I still don't know what Mephiles is really up to!**_

_**And don't you all just love (sarcasm highly intended) how I managed to write those last few paragraphs without mentioning if it was Amy or Shadow? I don't care who you think it is. Use your imagination!**_

_**Thank you everyone for reading and following along with my first fanfiction. Just because it's over doesn't mean I don't love reviews! I have continued this story in the form of Return the Darkness, but it's taking place in the Sonic area. Now it's between Sonic and Mephiles, and not Tabuu. I don't know what's happened to Tabuu either. Nobody cares about him anymore. **_

_**Anyways, I hope you liked it! Farewell!**_

_**StarryKirby**_


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